Good news keeps rolling in on housing. Caveat: Improvement is relative. Prices still are stuck in the basement. Millions more foreclosures will hit the market in coming years. But with feet firmly on the ground, there's no reason not to enjoy the spate of recent reports showing housing finally moving off the critical care list. Up is good for these five indicators:  Homebuilding seems to be emerging as the number of homes under construction creeps slowly up. Fresh Census data for April show:

• Permits. Permits for new single-family homes in April reached an annual rate of 715,000. April's number still is 23.7% more than in April 2011.
• New construction. Ground was broken on nearly 30% more homes in April (717,000 annual rate) than in April 2011.
• Homes completed. The number of finished homes is rising, too. Privately owned homes finished (651,000 annual rate) were up 10% over March and 20% over the same time last year.
• Homebuilder confidence. New surveys show homebuilders more optimistic about their prospects than at any time in the last five years.
• Sales of existing homes. The number of transactions is growing. The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of existing homes rose 3.4% in April over March. They were also 10% higher than last year at the same time.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says: It is no longer just the investors who are taking advantage of high affordability conditions. A return of normal homebuying for occupancy is helping home sales across all price points, and now the recovery appears to be extending to home prices. Down, on the other hand, is a good direction for these three indicators:

• Investors. Fewer homes sales are "all-cash." Investors are the pioneers in a bad market. As homeowners move in, investors retreat. Fewer investors and more homeowners is another sign of a more stable market.
• Delinquent mortgages. Mortgage delinquencies have hit a four-year low.
• Foreclosures. In April, foreclosure filings dropped almost 16% from the year before -- nearly 70% below the worst point, in March of 2009.

Read the entire post at MSN Money. May 24, 2012. Renaissance Homes is an award winning Street of Dreams custom home builder specializing in green building, remodeling and renovations for the Portland market. Awarded the Portland Homebuilder’s Association 2011 “Builder of the Year.”

Update from 2019: Housing prices fluctuate.