In judging the relative health of the Tampa Bay housing market, we're reaching the point where we're out-performing the nation.

We're still hurting, mind you, but we're hurting less than the rest of the country. The latest confirmation came from new home construction numbers for the 2nd quarter.

Local builders started construction on 915 homes from April 1 to June 30. That's a pretty nasty number when you consider the housing start peak was 4,659 in the 2nd quarter of 2006.

A year earlier, in the 2nd quarter of 2008, Tampa Bay housing starts came in at 1,312. That's an annual decline of 30 percent. National housing starts plunged 46 percent year to year.

In terms of the new home market, it looks as if we hit bottom in the 1st quarter of this year, when housing starts plummeted to 708.

Does that mean we're in recovery? Probably not. To quote Tony Polito, who keeps statistics for the firm Metrostudy, the surest sign of a rebound is when new home starts exceed new home closings.

Right now, closings, at 1,100 in the 2nd quarter, maintain their lead over starts. That suggests stagnant demand for housing. You'd expect starts, evidenced by the pouring of a concrete slab, to shoot up if home buyers were rushing back into the market.