The Housing Bust Is Over

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal this morning titled Housing Passes A Milestone.  Here are some excerpts:

 Nearly seven years after the housing bubble burst, most indexes of house prices are bending up. "We finally saw some rising home prices," S&P's David Blitzer said a few weeks ago as he reported the first monthly increase in the slow-moving S&P/Case-Shiller house-price data after seven months of declines.

-snip -

In something of a surprise, the inventory of existing homes for sale has fallen close to the normal level of six months' worth despite all the foreclosed homes that lenders own. The fraction of homes that are vacant is at its lowest level since 2006.

The article also has some interesting charts showing just have far we have fallen and stopped falling.  The key is the "stopped falling" part.  It's tough to make confident business decisions involving real estate when prices are in freefall.   

I  suggested that Utah was at an inflection point last November when I wrote We're On the Cusp: Charts Show Prices to Rise or Massive Over Correction. The WSJ article also cites increases in sales year over year nationally.  You can see Utah's figures in RECOVERY! Housing Market Awakens From Coma.

Here is to light at the end of the tunnel!