Americans may finally be able to exhale a sigh of relief. And that much has been a long time coming. It appears, at least on the forefront, that the housing market may be returning and the perspective is looking good. Sadly it's been a rough handful of years, and many Americans to the tune of over a million have lost their homes. But there does appear to be optimism on the horizon; which for many of us is at least a start in the right direction.

Early forecasts are predicting that not only home sales, but also new construction, will see a rise this year. This is following up on a five-year slide rivaling even the great depression. Naturally this correction won't happen overnight and will definitely take some time. Home prices are still expected to fall this year with an increase in foreclosures. This still sounds like a doom and gloom scenario.

However, that may not be a bad thing and has already showed signs of stabilization. One of the reasons for the stabilized outlook is that for the first time in three years unemployment has dipped below 8.5%. Not only that, over 200,000 jobs were created just last month. This is also due in part to lower interest rates that mortgage buyers are now receiving. So while the prices of houses may still be dropping, we are beginning to see a balance now with the creation of jobs. And this is what has analysts believing that we may have seen the bottom of this housing crisis. Others are saying that bottom has yet to hit but might do so this year. Either way, it sounds like we're headed for stabilization.

Experts are predicting that the new-home sales will climb 12% throughout the year 2012. This will be a whopping 74% increase since just last year. New construction is also holding its own. Experts are predicting a 37% increase in starter homes. All of this has home builder stocks crushing it right now against the broader scope of the market.

Is it time for me to sell my house? That may still be a little premature. While there is a good outlook this year, homeowners need to remind themselves that the cost of homes is still dropping. It still feels a little early for a sellers market to return. While I'm not desperate to sell my house, it may be time to at least think about putting it on the market. Even the thought of it is a lot better than where we've been for the past few years.