Can Pent-Up Demand Boost the Housing Recovery in 2013?

Leading and lagging indicators regarding the state of the housing market in the United States appear to be in agreement; a recovery is indeed afoot. But there are lingering questions over whether this growth is sustainable, or if it will slow down throughout 2013.

Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed in Tuesday’s reading that that all three headline composites ended the year with strong gains. The National Composite, the 10-City Composite, and the 20-City Composite posted annual increases in 2012 of 7.3 percent, 5.9 percent, and 6.8 percent, respectively.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday also suggested that the housing market continues to be a bright spot in the burgeoning U.S. economic recovery. The agency reported that new home sales for January increased an unprecedented 15.6 percent compared to December. New home sales hit an annualized rate of 437,000, way ahead of analysts’ expectations for a rate of 381,00.

What’s more, there are signs on the horizon that this recovery is more than a fleeting piece of good luck…