The housing crisis and economic collapse that the United States and many other countries all over the world experienced in the last few years devastated the housing market. The sheer number of foreclosures skyrocketed overnight. And with the sudden influx in housing inventory on the market due to foreclosures, home prices plummeted as a result. People who had previously spent countless thousands of dollars renovating homes or getting them ready to sell found their houses sitting on the market, untouched, for indefinite periods of time.

opens IMAGE file If recent trends are to be believed, however, the worst may actually be over. The National Association of Realtors recently reported that sales of homes that were previously owned rose 2.6% in June of 2014, which equates to 5.04 million homes. Not only is it the third straight month in a row that experienced such a rise, but it also marks the highest level that the housing market has been at since October of 2013.

The fading of foreclosures across the United States bodes well for the housing market. For starters, it means that regular homeowners don’t have to compete with banks when it comes to selling homes. Banks traditionally sold foreclosed homes at dramatically reduced prices as they were attempting to recoup some of their losses from the original mortgage. Most homeowners couldn’t afford to take those losses and sold fewer homes as a result.

The fading of foreclosures across the country also explained an increase in both the total number of home sales and sale prices that were seen in 2013 and beyond. Essentially, it meant that as regular homeowners have been able to sell homes again, prices are increasing across the board as a result.