You must see this crazy animals

Too hot, too cold, too hot. For more than a decade the housing market has been nowhere near its Goldilocks moment, a just-right rate of growth that offers opportunities for both buyers and sellers. By certain markers, we’re finally starting to get there: Home prices nationwide are expected to rise 4.9% on average this year, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That’s closer than we’ve been in a while to the long-term average of 3.3%—and a lot more manageable than either the sharp drops of the bust years or the 12% spike we saw in 2013. Start hunting. Sure, you’ve been hearing for years that interest rates would shoot up soon. This time you can believe it—Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen signaled as much in her most recent Federal Open Market Committee statement. The NAR is forecasting that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will average 4.3% in the third quarter of this year, 4.7% in the fourth, and 5.3% over all of 2016. On a $300,000 loan, the difference between 3.7% and 5.3% would be $285 a month (a payment of $1,381 vs. $1,666) and $102,600 over the life of the loan.

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