Whether housing-start numbers released by the Census Bureau were good news or bad news depends on whom you ask.

Professional Builder magazine focused on the fact that there were 10.3% more housing starts in March than in the same month a year ago. The Wall Street Journal called the data "a mixed verdict on the sluggish U.S. housing market" because starts were down from February, but permits pulled for new construction were up.

The National Association of Home Builders reported single-family home starts "virtually unchanged" and emphasized that a slowdown in multifamily building pulled down the total.

The Census Bureau said there were 654,000 starts recorded in March.

Comments from NAHB's chief economist reflected the uncertainty in analyzing the numbers.

“While combined U.S. housing starts lost some ground in March, this was almost entirely due to typical month-to-month volatility on the multifamily side,” David Crowe said. “The fact is that single-family and multifamily starts and permits were all stronger in the first quarter of 2012" than in Q1 of 2011, but the improvements come "in fits and starts.”