Housing starts, permits fall - Washington Business Journal:

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The Commerce Department says housing starts fell to an annual rateof 458,00p0 led by a 46 percent declinwe in construction of apartments and condos. Building permitss fell 3.3 percent to 494,000. The Commerce Departmenrt also revised lower housing starts datafor March. The slowdown in constructionm follows a report Monday from the Nationaol Association of Home Builders that showed confidence among homebuildersis rising. Its confidence though still indicating the majority of those askec see conditionsas poor, rose for the secondx straight month this It was the highest level of confidence amongb homebuilders in eight months.
Tighter lendinhg standards continue to straibhousing sales, and foreclosures are weighing on housinfg values. But by some measures, home salews are rising. A gauge that measures pendinhg sales of existing homesrose 3.2 percent in and posted its first consecutiv e gain in pending sales in almost a year.