Maria Wells said she never intended to be a landlord. She sells real estate; she doesn't invest in it. Now the Florida resident owns two properties. One was her son's, but he had to move to take a new job.

The other was hers, but she got married and moved in with her husband. She can't sell either because she is underwater on both mortgages, so she rents them. Maria is one of a growing cadre of what the Realtors have dubbed, "Accidental Landlords."

"When I get enough equity, I will definitely sell," said Wells, who has been able to manage the properties because the rental market is so good that the income covers the mortgage payments and taxes. She does not use a property manager, as she wants to make sure the homes are well-maintained and keep their value. She's had some good tenants, but also some nightmares.

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

"One of the tenants certainly surprised me. They decided to change a water filter and go out of town, and then I got the call that 500 gallons of water had gone into my home. Fifty thousand dollars later…," she recalled.

Despite moderate moves higher in home sales, home prices are on a tear.

The median price of a newly built home soared to $271,600, the highest level on record dating back to 1963, according to a new report from the U.S. Census. Prices are now 15 percent higher than they were a year ago for new construction and around 10 percent higher for existing homes.

"We've gone through a very long downturn and prices overcorrected. The first move is we're seeing a kickback or reversion to normal," said Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar Homes, one of the nation's largest homebuilders. "It feels like prices are on the move, but they're just snapping back to pricing levels they should have been at."

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

Strong demand and still limited supply mean homes are now selling nearly three times as fast as they normally would.

The average number of days a listing stayed on the market in April was 46, down from 62 in March, and down from the normal pace of 90-120 days, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"I have a seller, his house came on, he got a full price offer, and he refused to take it because he wanted multiples. Really?" asked Jane Fairweather, a real estate agent in Montgomery County Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC.

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

When a company reports a quarterly profit of over $50 billion, it makes sense that investors would rush in to buy that company's stock.

That is just what happened when mortgage giant Fannie Mae reported a record net income of just over $58 billion for the first quarter. The company's stock surged.

Fannie Mae common shares are now up over 400 percent in the past three months, and its most widely traded preferred shares went from less than two dollars per share to over five dollars in the past two months. The stocks, however, are really only worth the trade because the company is under government control and may not operate on its own.

(Read More: Fannie Mae: From Bailout Child to Government Cash Cow)

In the kitschy 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.

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.

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.