BUILDER SENTIMENT AT DECADE HIGH

The nation's single-family home builders are feeling a lot better about their business, even as mortgage rates move higher. A monthly sentiment index rose to the highest level in July since November of 2005.*
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"This month's reading is in line with recent data showing stronger sales in both the new and existing home markets as well as continued job growth," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "However, builders still face a number of challenges, including shortages of lots and labor."*

Construction was the hardest hit industry during the "Great Recession," but now has labor shortages.  We missed a major opportunity to do infrastructure improvements at low cost by not doing them in the "Great Recession."
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U.S. commercial real estate is the midst of a big foreign investment boom that is likely to continue, according to one prominent expert.**

China is leading the boom, but money also is coming from Canada, Norway, the Middle East and elsewhere, Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone, said at the Delivering Alpha conference presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor.**

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"There's not a ton of building going on, leverage in the system is reasonable and we still think this economic cycle has a bit of a ways to go," he said. "That's why we're optimistic."**

* http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/16/builder-sentiment-hits-decade-high-rising-to-60.html
** http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/15/real-estate-boom-not-over-blackstone-expert-says-at-delivering-alpha.html