When the headlines about the housing market are apocalyptic, the last thing a homeowner wants to do is sell.
Here's a surefire way to start an argument: Suggest that the housing market has reached bottom.
To be sure, the near-term outlook is still grim, and nobody is forecasting a rapid nationwide rebound. But there are signs that the overbuilding and speculative pricing that inflated the bubble are working their way through the system.
In October 2005, near the peak of the boom, the median sales price for a U.S. home reached 7.3 times per capita income; by this May it had fallen to 5.7, in line with historical norms.
Nationally, the rate of decline in sales is slowing, and in some regions sales numbers have actually perked up.
"The indicators are starting to look better," says Adam York, an economic analyst with Wachovia.
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