Housing market temperature?

The U.S. Commerce Department came out with June housing starts numbers yesterday here. The numbers are sort of bleak nationally and not as bleak in the Midwest. The Midwest showed a 3% gain in new construction over the previous month which led the nation. However, year-to-year, Midwest housing starts declined 9.6% from last year. Here's the Trib.'s article.

On a personal level, our real estate group has had slightly more residential closings this year versus last. However, I can think of at least five close friends who have had homes on the market for a protracted period of time...I wouldn't mind a few more SALES.