Industry News: Housing Permits, Mortgage Apps and Foreclosures

First, "Builders appeared to have remained cautious about the housing market in March, pulling permits and starting construction on new houses in numbers little changed from February. The monthly data on new residential construction ... on Tuesday reported that permits for privately-owned housing units were issued in March at ... a scant 0.8 percent above the revised February figure of 1,532,000. This is 25.9 percent below the permitting rate in March 2006." See: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/4172007_March_Housing.asp

At the same time, "Fewer people applied for mortgage loans last week, a lending industry group reported, as cooling home prices and higher interest rates kept home buyers off the market." See: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/18/ap3625812.html

If permits for new construction are not increasing, that ultimately might mean less inventory in an already inventory-heavy market. A good thing for the housing industry, right? A glut of homes drives prices down and costs builders a lot of money (both in carrying costs and discounts necessary to move property).

However, if mortgage applications are down as well, that means less existing inventory is being moved...which means the problems facing a weary housing market might continue for the foreseeable future.

Then add this news from CNN Money.com: "U.S. home foreclosures climbed in March, as subprime borrowers struggled to keep up with their monthly payments to lenders, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said Wednesday." See: http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/18/real_estate/bc.usa.economy.foreclosures.reut/?postversion=2007041817

Seems like the housing and mortgage industries are not quite out of the woods yet. What do you think?