A "Housing Start" is a privately-owned home on which construction has started. It's an important gauge of housing health because it tracks new housing stock nationwide.In December 2009, starts fell by nearly 7 percent.
The news is mildly disappointing but not too bad. The likely cause for the Housing Starts drop is December's rough weather conditions. It's tough to break ground when Mother Nature won't coordinate and last month was especially hazardous in a lot of parts of the country.
More cheery, however, is that for the second straight month, Housing Permits exploded.
