http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/5162008_April_Housing_Starts.aspThe rate of housing starts during April was 8.2 percent higher than in March. April�s rate was 1,032,000 and the revised March estimate was 954,000. The April figure, however, is 30.6 percent lower than the revised April 2007 rate of 1,487,000. Home buildersenCommunityServer 2008 SP2 (Build: 31106.96)http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/5162008_April_Housing_Starts.asp#7816Fri, 16 May 2008 11:00:00 GMT2bb7a989-b681-446d-a7f2-bd5f0562f228:7816Anonymous in FloridaVery often builders and their financial backers have invested millions in building permits that will expire unless progress is made and reported to the city government. The banks that are financing those builders may have already committed funds to previously approved building projects, and may be legally bound to provide the funds to those builders as long as progress is shown. Perhaps those same builders have a crystal ball that tells them that no further declines will occur in the housing market, credit markets and foreclosure scenarios so that they have customers when their projects are finished. Or perhaps they will just proceed slowly so that they can stay alive and keep a paycheck coming in. In the end, what will the outcome be? I don&#39;t think a crystal ball is required for the answer. <div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=7816" width="1" height="1">