Christine Romans of CNNMoney reports almost half of residential real estate deals in the first quarter of 2014 were “swaggering cash buyers, investors from overseas, private equity funds, wealthy individuals,” who comprised a record high 42.7 percent of the purchases. First-time homebuyers were not a significant part of the housing recovery, but with mortgage rates falling again—4.14 percent for the 30-year fixed rate, the lowest rate since October of last year, and 3.25 percent for the 15-year fixed rate–now is a good time to buy, but only if you can afford it. She says the White House is encouraging governmental agencies to make it easier for qualified buyers to obtain loans to buy homes.

Meanwhile, Karl “Chip” Case, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, calls the housing market a “crapshoot.” He says, “You’ve got much more negative vibrations in the housing surveys about homeownership than we ever had before.” He says the key indicator to watch is housing starts, as MHProNews has learned, and each time in the past it has fallen below a million a month (annualized) it has come right back—except for the recent Great Recession. It fell below 500,000 in 2009, a rate that many thought could never happen, and the return has been very slow. He says the housing market is more segmented, that some areas will see better results than others. “The Chinese are coming over here with millions and billions of dollars, and they want to spend it on assets that tend to hold their value. And at least the theory is that housing does. But it is far from what it was in 2004,” Case adds. ##

(Image credit: totalmortgage.com)