Spring Housing Already Overheating #realestate #homeownership

Source:  CNBC

The spring housing market started early this year, not because of higher-than-average temperatures but because of hotter-than-average demand and overheating home prices.

"This spring housing market is shaping up to be another doozy for homebuyers," said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for home-listing website Trulia.  "Housing affordability is the key to helping break yet another year of gridlocked inventory, but all signs are showing homes this spring will be much less affordable than last year."

Affordability is being hit on several fronts:  The foreclosure crisis is over, but it left behind an entirely new landscape for potential buyers.  Entry-level homes are scarce because investors bought tens of thousands of them during the crisis and turned them into rentals.  The number of single-family rentals jumped to more than 15 million, up from about 11 million in 2009, according to the U.S. Census.

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