According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, housing prices are returning to conditions of earlier years in some parts of the country, including Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Oakland.

Home prices have dropped so dramatically and demand for rental units has increased so much that it's now cheaper to buy a two-bedroom home than to rent one in most major U.S. cities.

The blog 24/7 Wall St. examined the number of new housing permits for the first half of the year to find the states with the lowest demand for new homes. New York, Michigan, and Illinois all made the top 10. Find out which state had the lowest percentage

Barely ahead of last year's record low, though, according to Commerce Department

College towns can be good places to buy rental properties. Housing demand is generally high, vacancy rates are low, and rental prices are on the rise. Move Inc. highlighted 10 college towns where it could pay off to invest in a rental property.

Builders in the 55+ housing market are significantly more optimistic about production and demand for multi-family rental units than they are for sales of single-family homes or multi-family condos.

Even as some markets stabilize, affordability remains at highest level in more than 20 years

The number of homes listed for sale continued to decline in July, falling by 1.2 percent from June and nearly 18 percent from one year ago.