The next twelve months should see yet more improvements in the nation’s housing markets, propelled by record-breaking low mortgage rates and improving unemployment statistics, according to several real estate experts.

Steve Storti, Prudential Fox & Roach REALTORS’ senior vice president of marketing, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that by the time we look back on 2012, many people will see it as a transitional year:

“Just as you can only declare a recession after the fact, maybe we’ll be able to say this is when it changed over.”

Storti cites the fact that home prices are on the up across the nation, and most markets are expected to see this trend continue for the near future at least. Phoenix, Arizona, which was one of the hardest hit markets in the housing crisis, has seen home prices jump by an incredible 21.7% over the last twelve months. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said that nationwide, sales of previously owned homes soared by 5.9% in November compared to the previous month, with sales increasing by a whopping 14.5% compared to November 2011.

One of the biggest factors behind these rising prices is thought to be the decline in inventory. Across the nation, inventories have fallen to just 4.8 month supply on average, the lowest level since December 2011.

Another area showing promise is that of new home sales. Last month, total sales of new homes reached their highest level in two years, while the median sales price rose to $246,200, up from $237,500 the month before. However, IHS Global Insight warns that while the new home market is improving, it still has a long way to go before we can reach what is considered a ‘normal’ level of sales, and will not likely do so until 2015 at the earliest.

Main image © SVLuma – Fotolia.com

New home sales finally increased last month © Zoe - Fotolia.com

Associated Press reported that one of the biggest reasons for the jump was that builders finally saw sense and reduced their prices for many new builds, allowing them to compete with the huge numbers of foreclosed properties on the market. According to AP, there was a 3.1% drop in the median sales price for newly built single-family homes, down to $204,000, which is the lowest figure since October of last year.

National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bob Nielsen said that the report showed that the housing market was finally picking up at long last:

“Today’s report highlights the gradual improvement in housing market conditions that is becoming evident in certain pockets of the country, as consumers who can surmount very restrictive lending standards to qualify for a favorable mortgage rate seize on this opportunity to buy. The latest numbers also reveal that first-time buyers are driving the new-homes market right now, as evidenced by the volume of lower-priced, entry-level homes under contract.”

Regionally, the south of the country saw the biggest gains in sales of new homes. There, new single-family home sales increased by 11.2%. The West also saw big rises, with 9.7% more new homes being sold in September than the previous month.

Not everywhere saw an improvement however. New home sales dropped by 12.2% in the Midwest, and 4.2% in the Northeast, according to the Commerce Department’s report.

Builders have the South and the West to thank for their huge gains, which managed to offset the drop in sales in other regions. Altogether, September helped the seasonally adjusted rate of annual home sales rise to 313,000 homes, although this is still a long way off the 700,000 mark that is considered to be healthy by most economists.

As for the inventory of new homes on the market waiting to be sold, this held at its record low of 163,000 units for the previous month, which is enough to last us for 6.2 months at the current rate of home sales.