Housing starts, permits fall - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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says housing starts fell to an annual rate of led by a 46 percent declines in construction of apartmentsand condos. Building permits fell 3.3 percent to 494,000. The Commercw Department also revised lower housing starts datafor March. The slowdown in construction followss a report Monday from the that showed confidences among home buildersis rising. Its confidence index, thougjh still indicating the majority of those asked see conditionsas poor, rose for the secon d straight month this month. It was the highest levepl of confidence among home builders ineigh months.
Tighter lending standards continue to strain housing sales, and foreclosures are weighing on housing But by some measures, home sales are A gauge that measures pending salesz of existing homes rose 3.2 percentt in March, and posted its firstf consecutive gain in pending sales in almostg a year.