5 signs real estate markets are improving

We're in the midst of spring selling season and mixed among all the negative news about unemployment and the worrisome news from overseas there are signs that the real estate market has begun taking its first tentative steps to recovery.

Could the horrible housing recession that we have been experiencing since 2007 finally be coming to an end? The answer depends upon your local market; however, there are a number of national trends that bode well for almost everyone.

#1 Sign Housing Market is Improving: The Job Market Recovers

When you hear your neighbor's car pulling out of the garage in the wee hours of the morning after months of no activity, you'll know that your neighbor got a job. When the unemployment rate drops and people return to work, the housing market is recovering.

#2 Sign Housing Market is Improving: For Sale Signs in the Neighborhood Vanish

Too many for sale signs in your neighborhood means there are too many homes for sale and generally not enough buyers to buy them. Excess inventory pushes down sales prices.

#3 Sign Housing Market is Improving: Median Sales Prices Stop Falling

It doesn't matter whether you track home sales by per-square-foot price, average or median prices, when the market is depressed, they all fall. Compare median sales prices this year to median prices last year. Steady increases mean the market is improving.

#4 Sign Housing Market is Improving: Starter Homes Sell Faster

When demand is on the rise, homes sell quickly and the days on market are reduced. A starter home that is attractively priced in good condition and a desirable location should typically sell within 30 to 60 days.

#5 Sign Housing Market is Improving: Closed Businesses Reopen

Little shows more faith in a budding economy than when entrepreneurs strike out and open a new neighborhood business. When you spot the boards coming off of a closed up shop and a new sign goes on the building, it means a recovery is underway.