Housing markets remain volatile into 3rd quarter.(Brief article)

Experts remain divided on whether the housing market has hit the bottom, as the commerce department estimates that U.S. home builders broke ground on 8.2 percent more homes in April, led by a 36 percent increase in multifamily units.

Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.032 million, well above the 954,000 estimated for the first quarter; this rate was the third increase in four months. However, starts of single-family homes declined for the 12th straight month, falling 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000, the lowest since January 1991.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported builder sentiment fell in May, with builders' assessment of current sales conditions ranking at their worst in 23 years.

Construction of new multifamily units is extremely volatile, with month-to-month increases or decreases of more than 20 percent showing up in government data for each of the past five months.

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