Tracking the U.S. Housing Market's rise, fall and rebound

Housing market trends and forecast

Moody's Economy.com supplied the data for this interactive. Each of the five charts shows the quarterly performance of an important component of the housing market's health from first quarter 2000 through fourth quarter 2012. Data from the fourth quarter 2009 onward are forecasts by Moody's Economy.com. Seasonally-adjusted figures, or seasonally-adjusted annual rates, are used for each component to simplify comparisons.

Moody's Economy.com chose these five indicators because they show key trends in the residential housing market. Sales of new and existing homes and the national median price for existing homes are closely followed benchmarks of the demand for housing. Both sales and prices are also influenced by supply, represented here by the number of single-family homes available for sale and single- and multi-family housing starts. A large supply of houses puts downward pressure on prices. Foreclosures also push down prices by increasing the supply of low-priced houses on the market.

Currently high mortgage delinquencies and defaults point to a continuing high number of foreclosure sales the next few years. Moody's Economy.com supplied not only the forecasts, but also historical data back to 2000, using figures from the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. Census Bureau and credit-reporting firm Equifax.