Several reports recently released have improved investor hopes for the future of the housing market. The federal housing finance agency(check out this link for great illustrative representations of the data) issued news of a 0.9% price increase from April to May. Since prices peaked in April of 2007 they declined by about 11%. The signs of life in the housing market with this report have given rise to stock values of homebuilders in response to a steady consumer demand, even with a surplus of housing on the market. Some think that this slight increase is only a slowing or a leveling of prices and that we are not yet seeing "an outright gain on a national basis." Broken down on a regional level, the pacific made the largest increase with 2.7%. the rise in the housing market is not seen as stable though because we are not seeing this coupled with high growth rates, as unemployment remains high and growth rates low we can not be sure of these results yet.

 Tim Holborn

Staff Writer