strong headline number sent shares of home builders higher including kb home and lenoir. but as diana olick reports, there's a back bump. >> reporter: soared on news of an expected jump in february sales. and while it was a welcome improvement, it needs a bit of perspective. >> we're trending slightly higher. we're still 40%, 50% below 30-year averages. >> reporter: february sales of newly built homes hit the case in 7 years at $539,000 for the year. but just undergone an epic boom to bust and building fewer homes than 15 years ago and that's with 11% more people living in the u.s. that is benefitting the bigger wealth capitalized public companies like tripoint homes. >> our orders are up 59% through february and what we're seeing is the consumer that wasn't engaged last year is engaged this year. >> reporter: but the overall number for housing is still anemic largely because builders who face 50% of the market are facing hurdles. >> they are somewhat capital constraint. that may something to do with the overall starts and permit data. >> reporter: the supply of existing