It's been a pretty long ride down from the meteoric highs the housing market hit in the boom years. Who knew more than five years later, Americans would still be trying to shake off the one of the worst financial hangovers the country has ever known.
Millions of homes have been foreclosed on and millions more Americans have underwater mortgages, the lasting legacy of the housing bubble that grossly overinflated home values. Now, living in homes they can't sell, Americans today are "stuck." Stuck financially, stuck in their homes, and stuck wondering when things will get better.
Of course, no one can say for sure, but plenty of economists say signals are pointing in the right direction.
"It has become increasingly apparent that the pieces for a housing rebound next year are beginning to fall into place," wrote Barclays Capital analyst Stephen Kim in a recent report.
Home sales pick up.
The end sum of all these factors is an expected uptick in existing and new home sales next year.
"There are so many improving factors that support home sales that we are calling for about a 5 percent increase in [existing] home sales in 2012 over 2011," Yun says.
New home sales should also see an even bigger bump between 10 and 15 percent, Yun says, because the inventory of new constructions is so low. "The builders will be ramping up production," he says.
