The housing market has shown signs of “bottoming out nationally and clearly turning a corner,” according to the Obama Administration’s December Housing Scorecard.
Home values are inching up while home sales remain strong. Some home price indexes are showing values up 5.6 percent and 4.3 percent from year ago levels, according to the Scorecard.
“As the December housing scorecard indicates, our housing market is continuing to show important signs of recovery,” says Michael Berman, a HUD senior adviser.
Home inventories are falling, reaching a 4.8-month supply in December compared to November’s 5.3-month supply.
Americans are continuing to see the amount of equity in their homes increase. American home equity grew to $8 trillion in December but is still below the nearly $14 trillion in equity reached prior to the recession.
More than 6 million mortgage modifications and other kinds of housing assistance have taken place between April 2009 and November 2012, helping more home owners stay in their homes, according to the administration.
The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the national housing market, released every month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
To view the complete Housing Scorecard, visit www.hud.gov/scorecard.
Source: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and “December Housing Scorecard Points to Improving Home Equity and Prices,” Mortgage News Daily
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