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The National Association of Home Builders’ sentiment index jumped three points this month to 20, its highest reading in over a year. The Commerce Department reports building permits and construction of single-family homes rose in October. The Federal Reserve’s fourth-quarter loan survey showed a pickup in demand for mortgage loans.

As an example of perhaps a turnaround, the inventories of houses for sale fell 41% to 21,304 in October, compared to 35,732 at the same time a year ago for Greater Phoenix, according to the Cromford Report, a market research firm in Mesa, Ariz. While the # of housing units sold is rising—to 6,428 in October from 5,443 in same month a year ago.

Meanwhile the National Association of Realtors or NAR, said sales rose 1.4% in October from a month earlier and were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units. That puts sales on track to beat last year’s level of 4.91 million units, which was the lowest level in 13 years.

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Housing starts

Housing startswere up 7.2% over February numbers according to the . The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The Midwest:up 32.3 %
The West:up 27.6 %
The Northeast: up 5.4 %

Home Sales
March sales for new single-family houses were up 11.1 %.

Building Permits Are Up too
According to the U.S. Commerce Department permits rose 11.2 %.

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This is the biggest drop ever in history!

Meanwhile New home sales is driving much of the current home sales and helping to end the housing slump.

“Existing home sales produce some economic activity but it pales in comparison with new home sales,” said David Crowe, the chief economist for the national Association of Home Builders. “We calculate that for every 100,000 homes built, it creates 150,000 construction jobs but another 150,000 manufacturing jobs building refrigerators, furniture and other products.”

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/10/real_estate/february_foreclosure_realtytrac/index.htm

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Housing starts will probably reach a three-year high of 739,000 in 2010, creating about 500,000 jobs and helping trim the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent, said David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, in an interview with Bloomberg.

“This is an ugly economic cycle,” he said. “We need job creation to get people comfortable with buying a home. If they do that, we’ll create jobs that will reinforce that home buying and fuel additional job growth.”

The CEO of luxury home builder Toll Brothers is optimistic. “The recovery is here to stay,” said Douglas Yearley. “I think 2011 will be an improving year, but I think 2012 will be a big year for us.”

At Fortune.com Billionaire Warren Buffet is among those who believe this is a sign the slump is about to end. Buffet writes: “Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller (or lender) hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits.”

Pending home sales rose again in November, with the broad trend over the past five months indicating a gradual recovery into 2011, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ® .

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 3.5 percent to 92.2 based on contracts signed in November from a downwardly revised 89.1 in October. The index is 5.0 percent below a reading of 97.0 in November 2009. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said historically high housing affordability is boosting sales activity. “In addition to exceptional affordability conditions, steady improvements in the economy are helping bring buyers into the market,” he said. “But further gains are needed to reach normal levels of sales activity.”

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Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 6.6% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of  307,000 units, their best pace since June, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department in Oct. 27.

“The fact that new-home sales are finally moving in the right direction — albeit slowly — is definitely good news following an exceptionally quiet summer at builders’ sales offices and model homes,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones. “The road to recovery will be a long one, however, and a key hurdle that must be surpassed is the lack of available credit for new-home construction so that builders can meet improving demand for new homes moving forward.”

“This suggests that builders continue to prudently winnow down their inventories,” he said. “That said, the concern is that builders’ ongoing difficulty in accessing production credit will keep the razor-thin supply of new homes from being replenished as consumer demand revives, thereby hindering the positive momentum.”

“Beyond the higher sales figure, another positive piece of data provided by September’s report was the number of newly built, unsold homes on the market, which has been steadily declining since spring of 2007 and fell again to a modest 205,000 units in September,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

http://eyeonhousing.wordpress.com/

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Homebuilder confidence unexpectedly rose in October, climbing three points to 16 on the National Association of Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) — the first increase since May.

A Bloomberg survey had expected the index to rise to 14 in October from 13 in September. Readings over 50 indicate that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor. The index was at 13 in August and 14 in July. A year ago, in October 2009, the index was at 17. It hit an all-time low of eight in January 2009 and an all-time high of 72 in June 2005.

All Three Index Components Rise

All three of the index’s components rose in October. The component gauging current sales conditions was up three points to 16, the six-month sales expectations component jumped four points to 23, and the traffic of prospective buyers component climbed two points to 11.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/home-builder-confidence-rises/19678023/

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Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved significantly in April as applications for permits to build new homes jumped 7.5% in March. This according to the Commerce Dept and results of the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI surged four points to 19 in April, its highest level since September of 2009.

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“If you’re a potential buyer who’s been sitting on the fence waiting for a sign that now is the time to act, this is it,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “Some of the most favorable buying conditions in a lifetime are now in place, and they are drawing more consumers back to the market.”

Builder confidence newly built, single-family homes rose five pts in April to the highest level since October 2008. This  according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

This gain was the largest one-month increase recorded since May of 2003, and brings the HMI out of single-digit territory for the first time in six months – to 14. Every component of the HMI reflected the boost, with the biggest gain recorded for sales expectations in the next six months.

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