According to the National Association of Home Builders housing activity is predicted to pick up for the balance of the year and a real recovery will start sometime during 2012. But home prices nationally are just about back to where they should be relative to income following explosive growth during the boom. Mortgage rates will remain stable and affordable and an increasing number of buyers are expected to enter the market as job prospects and the national economy continue to improve.

According to NAHB economist David Crowe “there is some improvement, with the rest of the economy pulling us out of the recession rather then the housing market pulling the rest of the economy, which is more typical sequence of events following a recession”.

Reporting on the remodeling segment Crowe said “we are looking at some nice improvements as more people decide to improve the home they have rather than encounter the uncertainties of selling and moving to a new home in the current market.”

According to Scott Berman President of Florida Window and Door “While we do not specifically track the trends tied to remodeling of recently purchased foreclosed homes or short sales, there is little question in my mind that this new segment has created a tremendous opportunity for our company as new buyers find a house that has been neglected and must be remodeled.”

Echoing Berman’s comments is Mark Zandi chief economist for Moody’s Analytics “there is a whole lot of housing stock in Arizona, California, Florida and Georgia and the obsolescence rates on these homes is quite high when they were left untended, especially in places like Florida.”