• After investing several million dollars into the shares of the home builder Lennar, Federated Investors saw a two-fold return on that investment.

• Home builder stocks are at their highest level in two years, with the Standard & Poor's index of 11 home builder stocks rising 80 percent since October, the most recent low for the industry.

• The National Association of Home Builders said that its housing market index, which measures the outlook for home builders, held steady at 28 in March from the same level in February, its highest level in five years. While still far below the 70s it reached in 2005 during the housing boom, the index has doubled in the last six months.

• Economic data showed that builders requested 5.1 percent more permits in February but broke ground on fewer units. On Wednesday, a report from the National Association of Realtors said that sales of previously owned homes declined 0.9 percent in February from January but that they were still at their second-highest level in 21 months. The median sales price for an existing home rose 0.3 percent to $156,600 in February, compared with a year earlier.

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