A sustainable housing market is important for global economic stability because severe problems with the U.S. market played a key role in the financial crisis and the global recession that followed.

Ken Simonson at the National Association for Business Economics says buyers are more wary now.

“I think there’s been quite a change in attitude among potential first-time homebuyers. They saw what happened a decade ago to people who bought, confident they could sell at any time and instead they wound up being stuck in their home or being kicked out of their home and that really made people more cautious about buying a home," said Simonson.

While some economists say tight lending standards and rising interest rates could constrain recent price gains, home builders are more optimistic.

The National Association of Home Builders’ confidence index is at a seven-year high. The group says that means more home construction projects - and more jobs.