Washington, California, and Illinois held 9 of the top 10 metro cities that saw the highest increase in home prices.

The ADP Employment Report released this morning for May and it BLEW expectations out of the water, coming in at 253K. Signs are pointing to tomorrow’s BLS Jobs Report being a strong one, as well.

Initial Jobless Claims came in at 248K for last week, higher than expectations of 239K.

We’re cautiously optimistic this summer will show some of the strongest sales we’ve seen in a long time as inventory levels are beginning to slowly improve, at least around the Detroit area. Remember, housing is strongly local.

Kansas City, Missouri (specifically the area of Blue Springs) stole the number one slot for families looking to own a home, based on median home price (affordability) and school district quality. Fun fact: for every dollar spent on public schools in a community, the home values in that area increased $20 in May, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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