Dive Brief:

• When February housing data is released by the government, economists say they think February will show numbers well up from January, weather notwithstanding.
• The consensus was that February starts will be at an annual pace of 908,000 units; January was 880,000.
• January's report said builders pulled 945,000 permits in January, showing optimism for the warmer months to come, but MarketWatch said the economists to whom it spoke think February could see even more.

Dive Insight:

There has been a contest in recent reports on the U.S. home-building industry between expectations that a recovering economy will push construction and concerns that tough mortgage standards, rising mortgage interest rates and rising house prices will squash progress.