For the past couple years, the housing market has gone through some tough times. Remember in 2005 when houses literally sat on the market for a day before going under contract? Well, after that boom, the market turned around, and the real estate market has now begun the road to recovery.

Here are some statistics to prove it:

• Mortgage applications increased last week by 12% (according to Mortgage Bankers Association)
• FHA loan applications were up 15.3%
• Buyers seeking conventional mortgages rose by 6.5%
• Fixed 30-year interest rates fell from 6.5% to 6.24% during the week last week
• 15-year rates fell from 6.14% to below 6% (down to 5.9%)

To read more on stats about pending home sales and contracts, check out this article from Homes 101. It quotes Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS, as warning against expecting “a housing recovery overnight, certainly not with unemployment on the rise. But he projected a slow, steady, multi-year upward trend, with 5.02 million total sales this year, 5.3 million for 2009, and 5.6 million for 2010.”

So just because the stock market is plummeting these days, and continues to be unstable, don’t jump to the conclusion that the housing market is going through the same pain. The housing market is recovering — in Harrisonburg and across the nation!