Just in time for the election, the Commerce Department reported that construction starts on houses and apartments in September increased at the fastest rate since the beginning of the recession.

Construction on single-family homes and apartments was started at a yearly rate of 872,000 in September, 15 percent more than the previous month, but still well below the 1.5 million seen before the recession.

Predictably, banking executives had optimistic things to say about the bounce-back in the housing market.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.