The housing market's long, cold winter may finally be heading into a springtime thaw.
New data show price declines easing in big cities, sales of new homes improving nationally and foreclosures in California dropping to levels not seen since before the start of the credit crunch nearly five years ago.
"The foreclosure market is turning into a drought, not a wave, and that has resulted in a lack of inventory," said Sean O'Toole, chief executive of the firm ForeclosureRadar.com. "If it continues, it will likely mean that we've either seen a bottom — or have passed a bottom — in prices because of limited supply and still strong demand."
Home prices remain depressed from their peak in 2007, when the median-priced home in Southern California sold for $505,000. The median price last month was $280,000.
The economy overall has been improving, however, with unemployment, retail sales, corporate profits and other measures showing steady if unspectacular gains. Housing has been one of the last holdouts, but analysts note that prices have stabilized and sales volume has been gaining.
“What are important are sales and inventory, and those are pointing in the right direction,” said Christopher Thornberg, a principal at Beacon Economics who was one of the early callers of the housing crash. “I would say that by the end of the year, they should translate into better prices.”