Changes continue in real estate markets, including some disturbing trends.
For instance, more people are paying cash for homes, and some of those buyers are corporations and investors who turn them into rental properties.
And then there are buyers who've recently cashed out the equity in their previous home, looking to downsize into homes that might be a good match for first-time buyers -- many of them are paying cash too.
The result is that competition can be so fierce, it can be harder than it has been in decades to buy a home just about anywhere in the nation.
Still, Presidio Real Estate founder and CEO JenniferYeo tells Newsradio 740 KTRH that all the effort required to buy a home is still worth it, no matter how a buyer approaches the market.
Some people are qualifying for mortgage loans, even at rates of around six-percent, with hopes of negotiating a better deal when mortgage rates drop in the coming months or years. Others are borrowing from family or friends. "If you can find a family member [to help] do it!," she says.
And she reminds people that equity in a home is a great value.
The downside? "Rents have gone up quite a bit, but for people across the nation it's been so hard for people to save money, to come in with a down payment." And now people are able to negotiate with real estate agents for commission fees, but as the price of homes goes up so, of course, do those fees.
And because rent payments are higher this year than last year in many cases, it's just that much harder for consumers to save up money for a down payment, which Ms. Yeo says are running at a median cost of about nine-percent of home prices. "And so to come up with 9% of a purchase price where values have come up so drastically -- that's a huge chunk o' change to save."
A recent National Association of Realtors survey showed 56 to be the average age of homebuyers today, up from 49 just last year.
"And when they can't save because rents have gone up so high, it's out of the question for them to buy. So what's happening is, it's putting it further and further into the future for their purchase, and now we're looking at their mid-50s, that's when people are purchasing.
The upside? For many people, buying a home is still a once-in-a-lifetime event, making it important enough to invest the required years of saving and thinking through the pros and cons and seeking loans, even if those loans come from friends or relatives, then a long time in searching for the home that meets one's needs. Of course, there's the equity investment that can prove so valuable in home owning, but there's also the old adage: You can pay rent on a home with nothing to show for it or you can pay the mortgage and own the home.