Podcast: Has the Housing Upturn Begun?

Economics
Published

In the latest episode of the Housing Developments podcast, NAHB CEO Jim Tobin and SVP Paul Lopez discuss two positive economic indices released this week: housing starts had a huge jump in May and builder confidence is in positive territory for the first time in 11 months. The co-hosts discuss the reality that these developments represent, including what this means for the inflationary environment in advance of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony on Capitol Hill.

Listen to Housing Developments wherever you get your podcasts, or watch a video of the full episode below.

Editor’s note: Find more in-depth analyses on starts and builder sentiment data on NAHB’s economics blog, Eye on Housing.

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