Housing starts are surging today and the builder’s confidence data is now in expansion territory. Does this mean the housing recession is over?

As I have said many times over the last few months, the builders are efficient sellers and they’re taking advantage of an existing home sales market that is suffering from low inventory and higher mortgage rates. Tuesday’s solid housing starts print, combined with yesterday’s builder’s confidence data, shows a housing market back in expansion mode, but the permits haven’t risen yet, which is the missing piece of getting housing out of a recession.