James Picerno submits: There's not much cheer in housing these days, unless you're a buyer with a fair amount of cash. Otherwise, the depressed state of residential real estate rolls on. Yesterday's update on building permits and new housing starts doesn't change much, although with each month it's becoming clearer that the bleeding has stopped. There's also the usual bit of volatility on a monthly basis, and sometimes that dispatches a bit of good news. But it doesn't mean much when you look at the big picture for this market. A recovery worthy of the name is still nowhere in sight.
New building permits dropped more than 10% last month vs. December, the Census Bureau reported yesterday. Meanwhile, new housing starts jumped 14.6% in January. But the monthly data should be used primarily for amusement at this point. As everyone knows, the housing market fell off a cliff a few years back and
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