The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury release a Housing Scorecard each month collecting key market data and the results of the administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts. According to their most recent report, the housing market is showing signs of a summer rebound with many key indicators moving in a positive direction, including growing homeowner equity, surging sales of new and existing homes, and foreclosure starts continuing to trend downward. Katherine O’Regan, HUD’s assistant secretary for policy development and research, said the June Housing Scorecard shows that the residential real-estate market continues to make progress as we enter the summer months but, given the severity of the housing crisis, there is still work to be done. Still, there are increasing signs of a healthy recovery. Among the report’s highlights, new home sales rose by 18.6 percent in May and are now 16.9 percent above year-before levels. Existing home sales are also up, rising 4.9 percent in May. Foreclosure starts, on the other hand, have fallen to their lowest level since December 2005 and are now down 32 percent from one year ago. More here.