For three straight months, houses that were previously occupied showed an improvement in sales. The number of houses on the market and sales of houses in foreclosure are both in decline — which is definitely good news.

Despite the good news, there’s also a few pessimistic experts. How will the United States housing market be affected when the $8,000 tax credit expires? How can the housing market continue to improve if job losses continue to mount?

Those two questions point to this housing market recovery being a long process. The market is unlikely to return to normalcy until unemployment levels start going back down.

That said, in the short-term, the positive statistics in the United States housing market has many investors feeling confident.

United States Housing Marketing Improving (Image: Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

United States Housing Market Improving

House Sold (Image: Flickr)

Although sales are still down by double-digit percentage points from this time last year, this month-to-month jump was the largest on record in over five years. The median price of a home was slightly more than $165,000.

Many reasons are hypothesized for why the sales of existing homes rose, however one factor that can’t be denied is the falling price of real estate. Compared to this time in 2008, the average price of a home is down more than 15%. In some areas of the country, prices are down more than 30%.

For those looking to buy a new home, unprecedented deals are now available. That said, considering the job losses expected throughout the rest of 2009, the number of people who can afford to buy a home is expected to decrease in coming months.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is the Real Estate Market Recovering?