A fresh chart from Trulia today illustrates how quickly the U.S. housing market is moving back to normal. It reveals improvement in all but one of the five market indicators since Q1. With regard to new construction, Trulia reports “starts are 50% back to normal, up from 45% one quarter ago and 41% one year ago. Multi-unit starts – mostly apartment buildings – are leading the recovery: in 2014 so far, multi-unit starts accounted for 35% of all new home starts, the highest annual level in 40 years. This apartment boom started last year, and last year’s starts are now being completed, which is increasing the supply of apartments for rent.”

“While the spring selling season was softer than anticipated by us and the investor community, the homebuilding recovery continued its progression at a slow and steady pace. The fundamentals of the homebuilding industry remain strong driven by high affordability levels, favorable monthly payment comparisons to rentals, and overall supply shortages. Demand in most of our markets continues to outpace supply, which is constrained by limited land availability.”
– Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar Corporation, speaking today