Two reports released this week suggest that the housing market is in the midst of some sort of recovery, but maybe not the kind you'd expect. Or hope for. The folks at Altos Research said this afternoon that May data shows signs of strength in most markets across the country, but cautioned that prices over the long term will (or have) hit bottom, rise a bit, sink back down and rise again, kind of like a catfish bobbing up and down from place to place without clear direction.

The report, released this afternoon, said that the nationwide median prices rose from $440,194 in April to $444,273 in May. In the Twin Cities prices rose 3.53 percent from $237,630 in March to $246,020 in May.

Of course, prices tend to rise during the spring months, but this data shows more strength than we've seen in other reports. May data from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors won't be released until next week, but they say that prices fell from $169,000 during February to $164,900 in April.

Earlier this week Local Market Monitor, a company that uses local economic data and home sale information to determine the health of hundreds of metro areas around the country, said that based on "real-time" data, many markets have already hit bottom. In the Twin Cities metro area it says that as of the first quarter of this year home prices have fallen 22 percent below the 4th quarter 2006 peak, and that prices have fallen just 4 percent over the past 12 months to $202,107. Based on calculations that factor in supply and demand, the group says that prices are just a few percentage points below the "equilibrium home price," which is essentially a sign that the market has already, or is very close to, hitting bottom. And, that in three years, prices will rise just 3 percent.