Three charts that tell the real story in housing

By Christine Romans

The housing headlines are hot. Best new home sales in five years. The worst is over in foreclosures. Mortgage rates ticking up but still a full two percentage points below the post-World War II average. Real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller calls it “happy housing headlines.” A deeper dive, shows a broad but shallow recovery, a recovery focused on players who have money, good credit and are willing to take risks in bubble zip codes that popped. These three charts tell that story.