Top Home Building Stories for 2009

2009 will go down in history as the worst year for housing production since World War II, when the nation purposely diverted resources from building homes toward the war effort. But builders may remember 2009 as much for events stemming from unprecedented government efforts to prop up housing starts and homeowner efforts to fight off the pernicious forces of unemployment and foreclosure.

Optimists among us may also remember 2009 as a year of rebirth. After hitting bottom during the winter months, and sending economists to dust off old stats in an attempt to figure out when times were last this bad, new home starts and sales steadily recovered throughout the year. From January through October, housing starts were on a steady march, increasing 31 percent, a rate that most housing economists expect to accelerate next year.