20 January 2010 ? According to the Wall Street Journal Real Estate section, housing construction is expected to rebound this year from its severely depressed 2009 level. The market, however, remains unpredictable as foreclosures continue to rise. In other news, Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said the percentage of people who are behind on their mortgage payments probably won’t peak until the second half of 2010. In regard to construction starts, David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, says builders are likely to begin construction on 610,000 single-family homes this year, up 38% from last year. His forecast assumes that the total number of U.S. jobs will start growing again in the second quarter. Housing starts will remain far below the 2005 peak of 1.7 million. Mr. Crowe cautioned that the housing market remains tenuous because foreclosures are increasing, job growth is stagnant, and builders continue to have trouble securing credit.