Aside from last week's statistical review of Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service Properties, we find even more data to support recovery now that the final draft of our statistics has been completed. One encouraging bit of news is that sales of newly constructed homes has increased. This is a welcome sign. In 2011 new construction accounted for 11 percent of our total sales. 2012 showed modest improvement, closing out the year with 14 percent of our total.

News is similar across the country. As bargain priced homes are snatched up by first time buyers and investors, inventory diminishes. This limited inventory builds confidence among builders who, for at least a couple of years, have been reluctant to put up houses in fear that no buyers would come. The increased activity and price appreciation we continue to see has narrowed the margin of risk and new homes are beginning to emerge on idle real estate holdings. The number is still low, but the improvement is encouraging.

Thirty-nine percent of home sales nationwide were from first-time home buyers during the 12-month period ending June 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's up from 37 percent a year earlier. But while first-time home buyers once had a huge inventory of homes to choose from, now they're finding tightened supplies and steeper competition for what's left. Add to that that, according to a recent survey, 93 percent of Millennials - those born in the 1980s and 1990s - say they intend to own a home, and we have a pretty bright outlook.

Eighty percent of Americans buy their first house between the ages of 18-34. While the Millennial Generation may have delayed entry into all aspects of young adulthood, the generation's preference for single tract, suburban housing should become the fuel to ignite the nation's next housing boom as Millennials fully occupy this crucial age bracket over the next few years.

This, if true, is what we need to rebuild our real estate market. Since World War II at least, home ownership has been called "The American Dream" and that desire appears to be as strong as ever. The recent activity in our local market would support that new buyers are increasing in numbers as available properties decline.

Glenn E. Crenlin from the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington believes that "what we're looking at in terms of the Millennial Generation is likely only a delay in home ownership of three to five years, not a long-term trend away from home ownership itself." He cites census data from the American Community Survey that shows a "...significant increase in homeownership among Millennials as compared to Baby Boomers when they were at the same age that Millennials are now.

"While 900,000 households in the Millennial Generation [now] own their own home, only 500,000 Baby Boomer households owned their own homes at the same point in their lives."

This data suggests the key to a resounding revival of America's housing market may be the availability of affordable homes in neighborhoods with amenities that would appeal to Millennials and their young families. As always, safe streets and good schools are key components of such an environment. But so too are short commutes to work and nearby shops featuring the local products that appeal to younger customers.

Given these reports, we believe that we may very well be in a sustainable recovery and that home values will continue to appreciate. What better place than here?

Trust an expert....call a Realtor. Call your REALTOR or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a REALTOR member who will represent your best interests.

Kim Cooper is a real estate Broker and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORS. Kim and the Association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of REALTORS, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling 208-667-0664