Here’s more evidence that the housing market is recovering.

Two major home builders, Toll Brothers Inc. and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., say their losses were shrinking compared to last year because buyers are coming back to the market.

Other encouraging news came from IHS Global Insight, a research firm, which said home prices fell on average at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter in 199 of 330 metropolitan areas. That compares with a 12.5 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 in 312 metropolitan areas.

"While it’s too early to see a bottom of this housing downturn," the report said, the latest data "may signal that the market is beginning to stabilize."

Some brave home builders are back building spec homes, something they had all but stopped doing as the market slowed.

D.R. Horton Inc. had about 5,500 speculative homes at the end of the second quarter. Pulte Homes Inc., had about 2,400 spec homes at the end of the first quarter. Both are well above the industry average of 1,388 spec homes, according to a May report from J. P. Morgan.

"We went from having way too much inventory, to liquidating all that, to now being back in a situation where you’ve got to build some inventory or risk losing sales," says Brent Anderson, vice president of investor relations for Meritage Homes Corp.



Sellers have dropped their asking prices on 25 percent of homes listed for sale on Trulia.com, according to a report the online real estate company released last week.

The average price-reduced home has seen a listing price cut of 10.6 percent.

Not only are cities with lots of foreclosures hard hit, but traditionally strong markets also are among those with large-percentage price reductions.

Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, the 12 locales with the largest percentage of price reductions are:

1. Jacksonville, Fla. – 36 percent
2. Tucson – 32 percent
3. Boston – 32 percent
4. Los Angeles – 32 percent
5. Columbus, Ohio – 31 percent
6. Dallas – 31 percent
7. Honolulu – 31 percent
8. Minneapolis – 31 percent
9. Austin – 30 percent
10. Washington, D.C. – 30 percent
11. Baltimore – 30 percent
12. Las Vegas – 30 percent

Reinforces what we know, the market will continue to be value driven for buyers and price driven for sellers.