Housing is getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel slopes downward. So jobsite construction spending continues to shrink rapidly while trends improve for home affordability, consumer confidence, home sale price and homes for sale inventory. Residential construction spending increased 0.6% in April. But this is misleading because of downward revisions of recent months and a bizarre April jump in remodeling spending, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.