In The New York Times, University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan offers some housing-market optimism: Recent reports on housing starts, new home sales and
“„Recent reports on housing starts, new home sales and housing prices show that the housing recovery continues….
“„Although the housing inventory exceeded the demand in 2007 and 2008, we have known for a while that the fundamental supply and demand ingredients would permit a genuine housing recovery to begin in 2009. As demand caught up, housing prices stopped falling and stabilized at more normal levels.
“„Although housing prices should not be expected to return to their 2005 peak any time soon, housing sector data released last week suggest that housing prices can head somewhat higher. Housing permits and housing starts have continued higher in the last couple of months. New home sales were higher in March than they had been for a while.