Chief economist Mark Fleming of CoreLogic is predicting 2012 will be a turn-around for housing prices, saying the prices will grow again this year. Typically, housing recessions take 3-5 years to reach rock-bottom, and this one has "bounced along the bottom" for two years now.

Additionally, the statistics are starting to point toward a positive season for Spring and Summer, which DSNews.com attributes to a couple of improvements: "...households are paying off their debts and at the same time accessing credit more easily, with some even adding Home Equity Lines of Credit in the third quarter of last year – the first such movement for these second-lien mortgage products since the financial crisis began."

Along with a decline in household debt (which improves overall affordability), existing home sales and single family housing starts have started to increase, and confidence is improving.