Are We Beginning To See A Bottom In Housing

I'm not saying that the housing market is good. More like we've been in a 150 mph hurricane and the winds are subsiding to 75 mph. But there is a trickle of evidence that the collapse in the housing market is beginning to bottom.

On May 27, "Sales new single family homes recovered 3.3% to 526,000, but the March decline of 11.0% was revised deeper from an initial indication of an 8.5% drop. Sales were down 62.1% from their July 2005 peak. An April sales level of 527,000 had been expected." - Haver Analystic.

June 9: Foreclosures declined in May for the second straight month, indicating that the housing picture may be brightening, according to ForeclosureS.com, a Fair Oaks, Calif.-based investment advisory firm.

Foreclosures dropped 12.0% in May from the previous month's level, and the number of homeowners facing preforeclosure fell 8.9%, the company said. (National Mtg News). A forward-looking indicator of existing-home sales rose 6.3% in April, its highest level since October, according to the National Association of Realtors. The NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, which is based on sales contracts signed in April, rose to 88.2 in April from 83.0 in March. On a year-over-year basis, the index was down 13.1 %.

Slowly, we are digging out of this housing crisis. Make no mistake, it's going to be a long bottoming process, emphasis on process, but at least that stage of the process appears to have begun.