For nearly two years, home values plummeted to pre-2003 levels. Now, housing markets within the country are showing the first signs of stabilizing.

    Of course, each housing market is regional and varies greatly from the other. Still, there are indicators home owners can rely on to see whether their home values are about to rise. Here are six.

    The Unemployment Rate

    It's quite simple: Without a job, you can't buy a home.

    And as the unemployment rate rises, fewer individuals are capable of purchasing a home. That decreases the demand for homes, which drives prices down.

    To find a city's unemployment rate, and whether it's rising or falling, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics' web site.

    Also, see if local businesses are hiring and if large corporations are moving into the area. More jobs leads to more employees who end up increasing demand for real estate in the area.

    Rising incomes

    House hunters who want to dig a little deeper can look at the average or median change in income among households in a particular neighborhood.

    At a minimum, confirm that incomes are being adjusted for inflation （or ideally rising）. Homeowners who have stagnant or decreasing salaries may not have much cash left over after they pay their mortgage; as a result, they might not maintain their homes or stay on top of repairs, which could lower a home's value and even its neighboring homes' values, says Zandi.

    Fewer Foreclosure Filings & Sales

    On average, foreclosed homes sell for 30% less than similar homes in the same area, although the figure varies by housing market, says Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.com, which tracks foreclosures. In areas hit hardest, especially cities in Sunbelt states, foreclosed homes often sell at half the price.

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    As foreclosures increase, they drag the average price of homes in a neighborhood down.

    Declining inventory

    In most areas where 'For Sale' signs are common, home prices are far from recovery.

    In general, when more than 2% of homes in a neighborhood are selling at the same time, inventory is high, says Dean Baker, a co-director at the left-leaning Center for Economic Policy and Research. As the number of homes for sale decrease, sellers have more leverage and a better shot at getting an offer close to their asking price.

    Look at the month's supply of inventory, or how many months it will take at the current sales place for inventory to be depleted. Five to six months is the normal range, but we're averaging just under 10 months, says DeVol. （This varies by metropolitan area.） Also, areas without new housing construction will likely see a recovery first since they have less inventory to sell, says Zandi.

    Shrinking list-to-sales price ratios

    On a national level, homes are selling at around 5% to 10% below their asking price, says Baker.

    Look at list-to-sales price ratios, which is the difference between the listing price of a home and the price at which it sold. If the price difference is shrinking for an area that suggests the real estate market is improving, says Michael Evans, the president of the American Society of Appraisers and owner of Chico, Calif.-based Evans Appraisal Service, which appraises residential properties.

    Decreasing sales price

    On the other hand, decreasing sales prices could mean that the housing market has hit its bottom, says Baker. They also guarantee that the buyer is getting into a market at a fraction of the price that buyers paid during the bubble.

    在近兩年的時(shí)間里，美國(guó)房?jī)r(jià)急劇下滑至2003年之前的水平。如今，美國(guó)各地住房市場(chǎng)正顯現(xiàn)出持穩(wěn)的初步跡象。

    當(dāng)然，每個(gè)住房市場(chǎng)都是區(qū)域性的，彼此之間存在顯著差異。但房屋所有者還是可以根據(jù)一些指標(biāo)，判斷他們的住房是否會(huì)升值。以下就是你房子將要升值的6個(gè)跡象。

    失業(yè)率

    這個(gè)道理很簡(jiǎn)單：沒有工作，你就不可能買房子。

    隨著失業(yè)率上升，買得起房子的個(gè)人就更少。這降低了住房需求，推動(dòng)房?jī)r(jià)走低。

    要查詢一個(gè)城市的失業(yè)率以及是在上升還是下滑，可以上美國(guó)勞工統(tǒng)計(jì)局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）網(wǎng)站查詢。

    此外，還可以看看當(dāng)?shù)毓�司是否正在招聘，大企業(yè)是否在遷至該地區(qū)。更多的工作崗位意味著更多雇員，這最終會(huì)提振該地區(qū)的房產(chǎn)需求。

    收入增長(zhǎng)

    想再深入一點(diǎn)了解情況的有購(gòu)房意向者可以看看某一街區(qū)家庭收入的平均變化或是變化中值。

    至少應(yīng)該確認(rèn)這些收入是經(jīng)過通貨膨脹調(diào)整的（最好是在不斷上升）.穆迪經(jīng)濟(jì)網(wǎng)（Moody's Economy.com）首席經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家贊迪（Mark Zandi）說，那些薪酬停滯或出現(xiàn)下降的購(gòu)房者在支付了月供之后可能就沒剩下多少現(xiàn)金了；因此，他們可能不會(huì)維修他們的房屋，或是聽之任之；這會(huì)降低房屋的價(jià)值，甚至是臨近房屋的價(jià)值。

    較少的止贖申請(qǐng)和出售

    追蹤止贖問題的RealtyTrac.com高級(jí)副總裁沙爾加（Rick Sharga）說，平均而言，止贖房屋的售價(jià)會(huì)比同一地區(qū)的類似房屋低30%,但具體數(shù)據(jù)會(huì)隨著不同市場(chǎng)而有所變化。在住房市場(chǎng)遭受重創(chuàng)的地區(qū)，尤其是在美國(guó)南部和西南諸州，止贖房屋通常都是按照半價(jià)出售。

    隨著止贖住房增加，它們會(huì)拖累同一街區(qū)的平均房?jī)r(jià)走低。

    庫(kù)存不斷減少

    大多數(shù)頻繁見到"房屋出售"標(biāo)志的地區(qū)，房?jī)r(jià)距離回升還很遠(yuǎn)。

    立場(chǎng)偏左的智庫(kù)機(jī)構(gòu)經(jīng)濟(jì)與政策研究中心（Center for Economic Policy and Research）聯(lián)席主管貝克（Dean Baker）說，總的來說，如果一個(gè)街區(qū)同時(shí)有超過2%的房子在掛牌出售，那么此地房屋庫(kù)存量就很高。隨著出售的房屋數(shù)量下降，賣房者就有更多的議價(jià)權(quán)，更有可能達(dá)成接近他們要價(jià)的交易。

    你應(yīng)該看看這個(gè)月的房屋庫(kù)存供應(yīng)，看看這些庫(kù)存按照當(dāng)前的銷售狀況需要多少個(gè)月才能消化。獨(dú)立經(jīng)濟(jì)智庫(kù)機(jī)構(gòu)米爾肯研究所（Milken Institute）的地區(qū)經(jīng)濟(jì)研究主管德沃爾（Ross DeVol）說，正常水平是5-6個(gè)月，但我們目前的平均水平是略低于10個(gè)月。（大城市地區(qū)情況會(huì)有所不同。）此外，贊迪說，那些沒有新住房建設(shè)項(xiàng)目的地區(qū)可能會(huì)率先迎來房市復(fù)蘇，因?yàn)檫@些地區(qū)可供出售的庫(kù)存量較少。

    售價(jià)折扣幅度縮小

    貝克說，從全美標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來看，目前房屋的實(shí)際售價(jià)都比房主的要價(jià)低5%-10%.

    你可以看看房屋出售報(bào)價(jià)和實(shí)際售價(jià)之間的價(jià)差。美國(guó)評(píng)估師協(xié)會(huì)（American Society of Appraisers）總裁埃文斯（Michael Evans）說，如果某一地區(qū)這一價(jià)差不斷縮小，那么就表明該地區(qū)房產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)正在好轉(zhuǎn)。他擁有的加州Evans Appraisal Service提供住房地產(chǎn)評(píng)估服務(wù)。

    房屋售價(jià)不斷下滑

    貝克說，另一方面，房屋售價(jià)不斷下降可能意味著住房市場(chǎng)已經(jīng)觸底。他們還保證了現(xiàn)在入市的購(gòu)房者只需要支付泡沫時(shí)期的一部分價(jià)格就可以買到房子。