Nationwide housing production rose 3.6 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes posted a solid, five-point gain to 46 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for November, released recently.

The lowest mortgage rates on record probably helped keep sales of previously owned U.S. homes close to a two-year high in October, and underpinned construction of new residences, economists said before two reports this week.

The missing piece of the economic puzzle, the one thing that has made this recovery so much weaker than previous ones, may finally be falling into place: The housing market appears to be in a sustained recovery from what can only be called a depression.

Lower interest rates helped make homes more affordable to median-income families even as house prices continued to inch up in metro areas across the country in the third quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released recently.

The housing market recovery should continue through the coming years, assuming there are no further limitations on the availability of mortgage credit or a “fiscal cliff,” according to forecast presentations at a residential forum here at the 2012 Realtors Conference and Expo.

The last time Realtors were in Orlando for the Realtors Conference and Expo in 2008, foreclosure filings had increased 81 percent over the previous year, home sales had decreased nearly 42 percent from a record high in 2005, and big banking conglomerates were still trying to enter into real estate brokerage and property management.

Real estate is facing a transformation in the coming years, given the nation’s economic concerns, demographic trends and shifting socio-economic landscape.