The U.S. housing housing market is showing signs of growth after a period of sustained decline, according to the latest bulletin from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The Case-Shiller and Federal Housing Finance Agency home price indexes both showed modest growth in the third quarter, although they have been somewhat volatile from month to month, with the former declining and the latter moving higher in September, the NAHB said.

Builder confidence tracked by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index climbed six points over the past two months to a reading of 20 in November, which is still well below the level of 50 indicating a balanced market.

New single-family home sales were up for two consecutive months, rising in October to a reading that was the12th lowest since comparable records began in 1963.

After declines for three months in a row, single-family starts rose by a solid 3.9% in October, but they were still not appreciably higher than they were in May of 2010.Multifamily starts have performed better, rising almost 90% over the 12 months from October 2010 to 2011.

For more information on the housing market, visit www.nahb.org .