Good news... yes, it really seems to be.

In today's issue of DSNews.com there is an article entitled "July Home Prices See Biggest Yearly Increase Since 2006: CoreLogic" that seems to suggest we are on a good track for the housing market. It discusses:

• Home prices saw the biggest nationwide year-over-year increase since August of 2006
• Home prices (including distressed sales) increased year-over-year by 3.8 percent in July
• July marked the fifth consecutive increase in home prices on both a monthly and yearly basis
• Removing distressed sales, home prices increased year-over-year by 4.3 percent compared to July 2011 and 1.7 percent relative to June 2012 (the fifth consecutive month-over-month decrease)
• According to the report, prices (including distressed sales) are expected to rise at least 0.6 percent from July to August, putting August on track for a 4.6 percent year-over-year increase.

The link to the full article is: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/july-home-prices-see-biggest-yearly-increase-since-2006-corelogic-2012-09-04

While there have been signs of improvement over the last months and even years, there is a continuing trend of "more good news than bad". Some experts are suggesting that the positive trends are encouraging and there may a light at the end of the tunnel.

May I suggest some optimism? OK, cautious optimism? Even being mindful of the notion "that a single data point does not a trend make", we are seeing more and more data points that are pointing in a positive direction. Let's keep watching...

Good news? Hold on... now not-so-much...

News about the housing market... now there's a rollercoaster if there ever was one these days. One day it feels as though there is hope with some news suggesting that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and then the next day it seems as though we are heading back to 2008. In all fairness, the news is not generally simple. The metrics that are tracked and reported are generally complex and sometimes complicated. Once this is layered with editors' agendas and political considerations, the news can lose much of its significance.

Sometimes, just as there seems to have been a trend in one direction or another, there is suddenly an abrupt change in direction. Of late, there seems to have been more good news than bad. Yesterday, all of a sudden there was a headline suggesting that June's home sales were at a five-month low... not what we need to hear. There was some encouragement in an article in today's DSNews (www.DSNews.com). The title was "Lack of Inventory Blamed for June's Dip in Pending Home Sales". The article went on to explain some of the statistics behind the news, and they suggest the root cause of the issue to be a lack of inventory.

Long debates could ensue about the significance of a low inventory, but I believe that is better news than the alternative.

While we are in uncharted economic waters, I think it is fair to say that we are through the worst of the times, and that the trends are positive. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and continue to do what we all can do to get us through to a stronger economic and real estate market.

All the best!

John Howard

207-956-0323

JLH@BreakwaterInspections.biz

www.BreakwaterInspections.biz