The super-heated housing market is cooling off. Home prices have fallen about 6% since their peak in June. The pace of sales also fell for the 7th straight month.

For first time homebuyers it was one of the hardest years ever to afford a house. But homeowners saw tremendous gains in housing wealth.

Lots of speculators are jockeying to get in on the hot market. Sometime they call homeowners multiple times a day. It can be an invasive nuisance, or worse.

Macon’s housing shortage is both a reflection of national trends and a unique blend of local realities.

Sales of existing homes fell 6.6% in February from the month before. Meanwhile, prices are up 16% over the past year, giving homeowners about $2 trillion more in equity and widening the wealth gap.

It's not only low interest rates pushing up prices to record highs. A historic lack of homes for sale is a big part of it too. And it's making homeownership unaffordable for too many people.

The housing market is on a tear, setting all kinds of records, including prices. But it's also a reflection of the uneven economic recovery and more first-time homebuyers are getting priced out.