Rising mortgage rates are biting into home sales. The Wall Street Journal reports that this will likely continue as interest rates readjust in the new year and as the Federal Reserve winds down its bond-buying stimulus program.
The relationship between rates and home sales is most evident so far with new homes: As interest rates have risen, demand for new homes has also fallen. Housing's Best Buys for 2014: Home prices and mortgage rates are on the rise, and some investors are retreating from the market. However, Forbes believes there are still plenty of housing deals left for home buyers in the new year, and with possibly less competition.
Salt Lake City's three day celebration: 
Construction of single-family homes and apartments in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million, a 23 percent increase over October’s pace. It marks the fastest pace since February 2008. 
dwellers, but some cities will see smaller bumps than in recent years, market researchers say.
For yet another year, Utah cities have outperformed most of the rest of America.
Park City is a winter sports enthusiast’s heaven, receiving more than 500 inches of powdery snow each winter. Adventure a 
About half of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, up from 18 percent a decade ago, according to newly released research by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Twenty-seven percent of renters are paying more than half of their income on rent. 
Ceiling for loans in high-cost areas falls to $625,500
As 2013 comes to a close and real estate experts predict where the housing market is headed in 2014, a look back reveals several trends.
The percentage of homes built specifically as rentals was 6.2 percent in 2012 — a record high, according to Census Bureau figures. 
Home prices have increased 12.5 percent year-over-year. However, prices had a more modest month-over-month gain of 0.2 percent from September to October. 
The Federal Housing Administration recently announced that they would shorten the waiting period for qualified borrowers who’ve had a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or short sale who want to buy a home again.
“Monthly prices fell slightly in October (down 0.25 percent month-over-month), but remained resilient against the usual seasonal patterns of stabilizing inventory,” noted in its report. 
“The combination of rapidly rising home prices, along with strong demand from institutional investors and other cash buyers able to buy at the public foreclosure auction or an as-is REO home, means short sales are becoming less favorable for lenders,” said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist in a statement.
“This summer and spring, home-buying season was particularly challenging for buyers, especially first-time home buyers trying to compete with all-cash offers and bidding wars because of reduced inventory,” “In fact, a quarter of the winter home buyers revealed they are in the market now. 
metro area may be eligible to recoup thousands of dollars in cash due to rising home prices. Many foreclosures are selling for more because of the general uptick in home prices, and some are even fetching more than what the original borrowers owed on their mortgages. 
While federal laws dictate those communications, appraisers and agents don’t have to be estranged during a transaction.
Continuing tight underwriting by lenders, low inventories in many markets, and rising interest rates are holding back growth in sales volume, said Yun, leading him to predict home sales of about 5.12 million for 2014, virtually the same level forecast for 2013. But home prices will rise by 6 percent.
While sales usually inch lower in the cooler months, some real estate pros are saying this winter in particular may be a great time to sell a home. 
The association says that these conditions are keeping qualified buyers, especially singles and first-time buyers, from reaching their dreams.
