Publication Date:
Wed, 2013-01-30 10:13
Article Image:
Trulia’s December 2012 Housing Barometer, a monthly roundup in which three key housing indicators -- construction starts, existing home sales, and delinquencies + foreclosures -- are measured relative to their worst points during the crash and their normal levels, shows the housing recovery is now 52 percent back to normal, versus 49 percent in November and 27 percent one year ago.
In December:
Construction starts leapt to a 54-month high, at 954,000 annualized rate.
Existing home sales dropped one percent month-over-month but are at their second-highest level since November 2009.
The delinquency + foreclosure rate remained at its four-year low.
The recovery, however, is uneven. Construction is above normal levels, and there are few foreclosures left to come in “healthy” markets such as Houston and San Francisco.
At the same time, construction lags far below normal and the foreclosure pipeline remains large in Miami, Chicago, and many other metros.
