Free Republic

The Land of Lincoln (Illinois) is seeing epic flight from high taxes and a broken state pension system. We are seeing a tremendous migration shift to Texas and Florida. This migration is leading to a swelling of single-family housing permits in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix AZ. We are seeing growth in smaller MSA such as San Angelo TX and Provo UT and uber slow growth in St Cloud MN and Modesto CA (home of Gallo Wines).

According to the Commerce Department, US housing starts rose 896,000, a little lower than expectations of 900,000. This follows a revised print of 846,000. hs081613 That is the headline news. But 1 unit starts were DOWN 2.15%. Multifamily starts were up 25.54%. hs081613table Single unit starts were rising with homebuilder confidence, but that has changed recently. hsconf Building permits have been increasing since January 2009. permitsjul13 But 1 unit permits fell 1.92% while multifamily (5+ units) permits rose 13.48%. What gives? According to Bloomberg, “Builders are contending with a limited supply of available land as well as rising interest rates...

It is amazing that the Presidential debate was devoid of a housing discussion. Since we are experiencing the worst economic recovery since 1882, I thought housing and the economy would have been a ripe topic for discussion. There was good news for housing starts this morning. Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000. This is 15.0 percent above the revised August estimate of 758,000 and is 34.8 percent above the September 2011 rate of 647,000. WE ARE FINALLY BACK TO MID RECESSION LEVELS OF HOUSING STARTS! So, we are over three years beyond...

There was an interesting post by Warren Hatch (chief investment strategist at Catalpa Capital Advisor) entitled “Why The Housing Recovery Could Happen Faster Than Anyone Expects.” He argues that the U.S. housing market is “shovel ready.” Where have I heard that before? Oh, now I remember. President Obama touted “shovel ready” projects in his pleading for the $800 million stimulus package. The basis of his argument is that the NAHB/Wells Fargo homebuilder confidence index is rising. And he argues that this index has a strong correlation with housing starts of 0.7. Here is his chart: Is this a compelling argument?...

The headlines were spewing optimism. Reuters: “Jump in U.S. housing starts points to recovery.” Todays announcement of a rally in housing starts (1 unit) of New Privately Owned Housing Units Started – 1 Unit NSA – of up 2.29% in November is grossly misleading. Why? It’s that darned seasonal adjustment again! If we use non-seasonally adjusted data (aka, raw data not tampered with), we find that 1 unit housing starts actually FELL -11.25% in November. Declining 1 unit housing starts signals a recovery?

Housing starts surged 15% in September to the highest level in 1 1/2 years, according to government data... ...The Commerce Department said starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 658,000, which also is 10.2% above the September 2010 reading and the best level since April 2010 — the month the homebuyer tax credit expired. The figures were well ahead of the 590,000 forecast in a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll. The rise was led by a 53% surge in starts of buildings with five or more units to 227,000, the best reading in three years; single-family starts rose a more...

Republicans have started to make good on their promises to conduct stringent oversight of the Obama administration right from the start. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has requested information from the Department of Homeland Security over a reported practice of investigating the politics of those seeking government records through Freedom of Information Act requests: A House committee has asked the Homeland Security Department to provide documents about an agency policy that required political appointees to review many Freedom of InformationAct requests, according to a letter obtained Sunday by The Associated Press. The...

The U.S. isn't the only place that's facing a major pension fund crisis. The Christian Science Monitor has this alarming report: People’s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don’t want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends. In recent weeks I have noted five such attempts: Three situations concern private personal savings; two...

Brett Favre was listed as inactive for the Minnesota Vikings' game against the New York Giants on Monday night -- snapping a legendary run of 297 consecutive starts (321 including playoffs) that dated to his first NFL start on Sept. 20, 1992. Favre, 41, suffered a sprained sternoclavicular joint near his throwing shoulder on the third play of last weekend's win over Buffalo on a hit from Bills linebacker Arthur Moats. His practice time was extremely limited last week, but as late as Sunday afternoon, Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier said he expected Favre to try throwing before the game.

*** The Justice Department is preparing to sue Arizona over its new immigration law. The president has stiffed Gov. Jan Brewer's call for meaningful assistance in efforts to secure the border. And the White House has accused Arizona's junior senator, Republican Jon Kyl, of lying about an Oval Office discussion with the president over comprehensive immigration reform. Put them all together, and you have an ugly state of affairs that's getting uglier by the day. First, the lawsuit. Last week, Brewer was appalled to learn the Justice Department's intentions not from the Justice Department but from an interview done by...

Blogger Amanda Hess of the Washington City Paper suggests a new story for The Washington Post on the gay left waging war on the Catholic Church over the city council's imposition of "gay marriage" rules without a referendum: A new Web site hopes to use the oldest trick in the book to combat the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage: A good, old-fashioned forced outing! At ChurchOuting.org, you’re invited to scroll through a list of every Achbishop, Bishop, and Reverend in the Archdiocese of Washington, zero in on one you know is gay, and then submit your “detailed account of...

The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 12.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 458,000 units, the lowest on records dating back to January 1959, from March's upwardly revised 525,000 units. Compared to the same period last year, housing starts tumbled 54.2 percent.

Juneau, AK -- Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has started a new political action committee -- in what may be a move to build relationships leading up to a 2012 presidential run. The new SarahPAC appears ready to support candidates for Congress in the mid-term elections next year. Full story: http://www.LifeNews.com/nat4793.html

TUCSON, Ariz. - Construction began Wednesday on vehicle barriers that will be part of a mix of fencing along the Arizona-Mexico border to discourage illegal border crossings. The construction is part of a Bush administration initative announced last year that aims to provide a mix of high-tech virtual fencing and a traditional physical barrier. The first phase of construction will consist primarily of concrete-filled vertical tubes set into the ground to prevent vehicles from entering. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russell Knocke said some portions of the barrier may also contain traditional fencing. The first phase will be placed along...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental adviser said his mission to change federal policy on global warming by getting vast regions of the United States to regulate greenhouse gas emissions will start with states on the Mexican border. Terry Tamminen is working with Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat in neighboring Arizona, to spearhead an effort to spread rules like California's to cut greenhouse gases to other states. In the absence of federal regulation on emissions of gases scientists link to global warming, the California legislature passed rules two weeks ago that require the state...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, June 12, 2006 – The French military started its second phase of air operations in Afghanistan on May 26. During "Operation Serpentaire," a French Navy Super Etendard flies over southern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. French air operations are in their second phase, which started May 26 and runs till October. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Dubbed "Operation Serpentaire," for Serpent-Eater, French aviators have performed close-air support and tactical reconnaissance missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force. This phase of the operation will support coalition efforts until...

Bolivia head starts land handout By James Read BBC News Evo Morales handed out land titles Bolivia's president has given more than 30,000 square km (18,600 sq miles) of land to indigenous peasant communities under a programme of agrarian reform. Evo Morales launched the programme after landowners walked out of talks with the government, warning they would take action to defend their estates.Thousands of peasants gathered in the centre of Santa Cruz to see Mr Morales launch his agrarian revolution. They cheered and waved rainbow flags symbolising indigenous resistance. The venue for the ceremony was carefully chosen: Santa Cruz is...

Digging starts on 'Europe's first pyramids' in Bosnia April 14, 2006 VISOKO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Excavation work started on Friday on what a Bosnian explorer claims to be Europe's first pyramids in an area north of Sarajevo. A team of experts started digging at the site of a 3.8-kilometer (2.3-mile) tunnel believed to lead to one of the two structures resembling pyramids, about 30 kilometers from the Bosnian capital. As residents of the nearby town of Visoko eagerly watched, digging also began on one of ten 20-by-50 meter (65-by-165 foot) wells on the lower slopes of a hill. Last year explorer...

CAMP AL QA'IM, Iraq (March 24, 2006) -- Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment never thought they’d see the Al Qa’im region of Iraq again when they departed their military camp here in March last year. One year later, the Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based unit has returned to this remote forward operating base here, located just east of the Syrian border in western Al Anbar Province, to continue to keep insurgents at bay and provide stability in the region. But this time, they’ve got a new mission — assisting an Iraqi Army unit to eventually take control of the area....

Dozens of donated plastic models are available for deployed service members to assemble in their free time. U.S. Army photo U.S. Soldier Starts Tikrit Chapter of Hobby Club The Tikrit chapter of the International Plastic Models Society has fifty members and that number is growing. By U.S. Army Spc. William Jones 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, March 2, 2006 — Some U.S. soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division are passing the time during their deployment by doing something they enjoyed doing as kids – building plastic models. “It is something that totally immerses you in to...