Housing rallies in South Florida

Housing prices in the tri-county area have jumped 2.6 percent in a six-month period in 2011, according to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders. The improvement placed South Florida on the association’s list of most-improved housing areas. “There is some improvement, but that doesn’t mean things are improved,” said David Crowe, chief economist for the NAHB. “We’re not back to everything being fine; we’ve simply started on a course of getting there.” New home permitting in the region also improved, rising 7.3 percent from its bottom in April 2009. [Palm Beach Post]