US home building shares up as news impresses investors - 2004-01-21
Shares of home construction stocks surged Wednesday, after a flow of positive news injected a shot of optimism into investors, analysts said.

"It's a combination of positive news such as Centex's earnings, mortgage bankers' application data, and housing starts that are better than expectations," said Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Sroka.
Read the full story at Reuters via iWon

Mortgage Rates and Bush ... better lucky? - 2004-01-21
Mortgage applications to buy a home hit an alltime high, and refinancing applications jumped more than 50 percent last week!

Again, it's the magic of low rates: the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 5.55% last week as the U.S. government bond market rallied and yields fell (mortgage rates loosely track the 10-year note yield).
Read the full story at CNN Money