In the kitchy community of St. Michaels, on the Maryland shore, businesses are gearing up for the official start of the season, Memorial Day weekend. Trucks carrying dozens of bicycles are unloading into waterside racks and shopkeepers are moving their bright-colored wares out onto the sidewalks. For real estate rental agents, however, the hard work is largely done. The biggest houses are already booked.

"Those houses do tend to book up in January," said Deborah Lipscomb, owner of Eastern Shore Vacation Rentals. "Because of the jersey shore and the things going on there, we are seeing more of a demand for this area."

(Read More: Map: Tracking the US Real Estate Recovery)

The recession hit home buying in this area, which actually increased competition in the rental market, but that may be about to change. Low mortgage rates, returning consumer and investor confidence, and the new migration from New Jersey are all combining to turn this Maryland market around.

"We're getting the calls again from people looking to really buy, buy into the market and start renting again," said Lipscomb.

The impact of Super Storm Sandy is less apparent further south on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

"It's a great time to buy, it's a bad time to sell is what I tell people," said James Wedgeworth, who has been selling real estate on the island for over a decade. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel."

With housing now in recovery and apartment rents rising, there is new concern that tenants and investors alike will move out of the multi-family space.

A huge drop in the number of new apartment buildings started in April only fueled that fear, but it may be unfounded, according to one noted analyst.

Multi-family is in the, "calm before the [development] storm," according to Ivy Zelman, who is known for calling the housing crash and for recently turning bullish on the home builders.

(Read More: Despite Rising Demand, Some Builders Slow Production)

A sudden turn in mortgage rates made for an equally fast turn in mortgage applications. After falling for seven weeks straight, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) increased to 3.67 percent from 3.59 percent, according to a weekly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

This is the highest rate in just over a month.

As the national housing recovery gains steam, CNBC is going local. Use this interactive map to track the latest numbers in some of the largest housing markets across the country.

As a home owner, home buyer or multi-market investor, you are just one click away from the latest moves in sales, prices and inventory.

Even as the stock market soars into record territory, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are shooting past it. U.S. REIT returns were more than three times those of the broader equity market in April, according to a new report from NAREIT, the REIT industry association. REITs have also outperformed the market in the first four months of this year.

"The REITs are direct beneficiaries of Ben Bernanke and his fellow global central bankers who are all following the same QE/currency debasement playbook," said Alexander Goldfarb, of Sandler O'Neill. "Investors continue to scramble for total return, and that pressure is pushing up prices and thus compressing yield. REITs offer earnings and dividend growth as well as inflation protection."

More home sales and higher home prices are adding up to bigger incomes for local real estate agents. With approximately two million actively licensed agents in the United States, that is a welcome relief for a workforce that was decimated by the housing crash.

The median gross income of a realtor (a member of the National Association of Realtors) jumped 25 percent in 2012 from the previous year, according to a new NAR survey.

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae has now been turning a profit for more than a year. In fact, it has turned record profit: $8.1 billion in its latest quarter.

Yet here's the catch: The chief beneficiary of Fannie's newly discovered riches is none other than the federal government—the same entity that bailed it out at the height of the financial panic nearly five years ago.

Mortgage applications are rising as rates are falling, and credit availability may finally be easing. Sounds like the perfect storm, in a good way. The question is: How long can it last? The tailwinds of this storm could easily turn.

The surge in mortgage applications is a sign that more mortgage-dependent buyers are coming back to the housing market, which for a while had been fueled by all-cash investors. Rising home values and cheap credit are just the incentives these buyers needed. Applications to buy a home are up 11.5 percent in the past year, to a three year high—although they are still well off their pre-crash levels.

The numbers just keep going up. Home prices are defying gravity and expectations, which has some asking exactly how real they are and what is driving them. The answers lie, again, in the numbers, which vary depending on what particular report you choose.

Home prices nationally, including sales of distressed properties, rose 10.5 percent in March from a year ago, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

(Read More: Map: Tracking the US Real Estate Recovery)

That report is based on repeat sales of homes over time. Another widely-watched report, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows home prices were up 9.3 percent in February in the top twenty markets.

The number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgages for the first time has finally fallen close to pre-housing-crisis levels, but those already in trouble on their mortgages may still not be getting a fair shake from their lenders.

(Read More: Underwater Mortgages: CNBC Explains)

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday he is suing Bank of America and Wells Fargo for, "339 violations of standards agreed to," under the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement. That settlement, signed by the nation's five largest lenders in early 2012, was the result of so-called "robo-signing," or foreclosure paperwork infractions and fraud.