By ALAN ZIBEL,
AP Real Estate WriterAlan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer –
WASHINGTON – The U.S. housing
market has started to recover from the most far-reaching crisis since theGreat Depression, data released Thursday
show.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a
row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported.
That hasn't happened since early 2004, during the boom.
"The turnaround in the housing
market appears finally to be here and indeed may be gaining some speed," wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff
Economic Advisors Inc.
Stocks jumped on the news, with
theDow Jones industrial average rising above 9,000
for the first time since early January.
Home sales rose 3.6 percent to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May.
Sales were up in all four regions of the country.
It was the highest level of sales
since last October and beat economists' expectations. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.84
million units, according to Thomson Reuters.
In another encouraging sign, the
share of foreclosures on the market is shrinking. About one out of three homes sold in June was
foreclosure-related, down from nearly half earlier this year.
And the glut of homes up for sale
dwindled to 3.8 million. That's a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace and another important sign of a
recovery. When the market balances at a 7-month supply prices should begin to stabilize, the Realtors's group
said.
That probably won't happen until
next year because of a backlog of foreclosures that have yet to come on to the market. The median sales price was
$181,800 in June, down 15 percent from year-ago levels but up slightly from $174,700 in
May.
Nevertheless, prices have risen for
three straight months in about half of the 55 major metropolitan areas tracked by the Associated Press-Re/Max
Housing Report, also released Thursday.
