In an episode of ABC’s “Modern Family” viewers were schooled on the difference between a REALTOR® and a real estate agent.

In the episode, which aired Wednesday, Phil Dunphy, the show’s resident real estate practitioner played by actor Ty Burrell, clarifies his status as a REALTOR® and offers Gloria a lesson about what sets REALTORS® apart from other real estate agents. At the end of the show, Dunphy is seen straightening an “R” pin on his jacket.

The National Association of REALTORS® partnered with “Modern Family” to craft the episode’s messaging. Dunphy is “now one of America’s best-loved REALTORS®,” says Elizabeth Mendenhall, NAR’s 2016 First Vice President.

The plot narrative of the show coincides with the launch of NAR’s latest TV and online ads featuring the Dunphy character, who provides his “Phil’s-osophies” on the ways REALTORS® provide value to home buyers and sellers.

Source: “‘Modern Family’ Product placement Takes Ad to New Level,” The Associated Press

The National Association of REALTORS® and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry released a report showing some of the home renovation projects that offer the biggest and smallest returns when selling a home.

The report found that installing a new roof and refinishing hardwood floors was worth every penny of the cost at resale. But which of the 20 projects evaluated offered the smallest percentage back when home owners went to sell their home?

Bathroom addition

• Average cost: $50,000
• Recouped at resale: 52%

Master suite addition

• Average cost: $112,500
• Recouped at resale: 53%

Closet renovation

• Average cost: $3,500
• Recouped at resale: 57%

Bathroom renovation

• Average cost: $26,000
• Recouped at resale: 58%

New wood-frame windows

• Average cost: $26,000
• Recouped at resale: 58%

Source: “6 Worst Home Fixes for the Money,” Bankrate.com

Forbes.com compiled its annual list of America’s Fastest-Growing Cities by ranking the 100 largest metro areas and their surrounding suburbs. For its rankings, they factor in population growth for 2015 and 2016, year-over-year job growth for 2015, the metro’s economic growth rate, unemployment, and median annual pay for college-educated workers in the area.

The following cities topped Forbes’ list as the fastest-growing populations and economies (included below with each city’s population growth for 2015 and projected growth rate for 2016):

1. Austin, Texas

• 2015 population growth rate: 3.15%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.56%

2. San Francisco, Calif.

• 2015 population growth rate: 1.24%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 0.77%

3. Dallas, Texas

• 2015 population growth rate: 2.16%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.58%

4. Seattle, Wash.

• 2015 population growth rate: 1.68%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.34%

5. Salt Lake City, Utah

• 2015 population growth rate: 1.05%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.40%

6. Ogden, Utah

• 2015 population growth rate: 1.64%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.37%

7. Orlando, Fla.

• 2015 population growth rate: 2.31%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 2.03%

8. San Jose, Calif.

• 2015 population growth rate: 1.27%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 0.93%

9. Raleigh, N.C.

• 2015 population growth rate: 2.28%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 1.44%

10. Cape Coral, Fla.

• 2015 population growth rate: 2.84%
• 2016 projected growth rate: 2.15%

Source: “America’s Fastest-Growing Cities 2016,” Forbes.com

Builders are also going green, choosing to build new homes that feature EnergyStar appliances and windows, programmable thermostats and using sustainable materials with climate concerns in mind.

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, as well as the growing movement toward green homes, NAR Research created an infographic that shows the importance of energy efficient and green features to your clients.

This infographic uses data from NAR’s recent Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report.

Source: “Infographic: Home Buyers Going Green,” NAR Newsline Blog

The Hispanic home ownership rate averaged 45.6 percent in 2015, just 0.2 percent higher than the year prior. But in just the 12 months ending December 2015, it soared from 44.5 percent to 46.7 percent — the largest one-year increase in more than a decade.

“The Hispanic home ownership numbers were very encouraging, and all leading indicators strongly suggest that the trend will continue,” says Joseph Nery, president of NAHREP. “Policy makers and the housing industry need to recognize that the face of home ownership in America has changed, and it is in everyone’s interest to ensure that these new consumers have access to relevant lending products, affordable housing stock, and culturally competent service providers in the coming years.”

Hispanics also led in workforce participation and household formation growth nationwide, according to the report, which notes that the real estate industry should expect Hispanics to be the primary driver of the overall home ownership rate for at least the next decade.

This report “should be required reading by everyone in housing, especially lenders and REALTORS®,” says David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “The Latino community is massive, it’s ready to own, and it’s now. The significance of Hispanics to housing and the economy will only grow, creating opportunity for all who focus on this vibrant, dynamic, and impactful part of the U.S. economy.”

Source: National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals

According to The Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey, a whopping 85 percent of owners and 75 percent of renters want to buy a single-family home. Just 15 percent of owners and 21 percent of renters are looking to buy in an urban area.

This demand for single-family homes, and the lack of inventory in many markets, underscore the need for builders to focus on creating new homes for the single-family suburban market.

“The American Dream for most consumers is not a cramped, 500-square-foot condo in the middle of the city, but instead a larger home within close proximity to the jobs and entertainment an urban area provides,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “While this is not a new discovery, supply and demand imbalances and unhealthy levels of price growth in several metro areas have made buying an affordable home an onerous task for far too many first-time buyers and middle-class families.”

Last year, the inventory of existing homes was around a four- to five-month supply, way below the six- to seven-month supply that most economists consider normal.

Despite ongoing inventory issues, most consumers still believe that now is a good time to buy a home. The survey showed that 82 percent of owners and 62 percent of renters are optimistic about now being a good time to buy, though renter optimism is down slightly.

4 Key Takeaways:

Size and location: Most households anticipate their next housing purchase will be of similar size and in a similar location to where they currently live, though renters and younger buyers said their next purchase will be bigger than their current home. Of those currently living in an urban area, just 39 percent would purchase their next place in a similar location.

Prices: Half of those surveyed said that home prices in their area have gone up in the last year, and forty-four percent believe that prices will continue to increase over the next six months.

Economy: 48 percent of people are optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy, down slightly from last quarter’s survey.

Selling: 56 percent of respondents say that now is a good time to sell a home.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

“Given that prices are rising, more people will be pushed on the borderline of conventional mortgage limits and may need a large down payment or a jumbo mortgage,” Yun says.

Nationwide, the median price for an existing single-family home in January was $213,800 – up 8.2 percent just from a year ago, according to NAR’s housing data. Home prices are moving at the highest rate since April 2015.

“There’s a decade of pent-up demand,” Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans, told The Wall Street Journal.

One piece of good news for home buyers this spring: Mortgage rates are expected to stay low, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage not likely to rise above 4 percent before May, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com.

As such, lenders are predicting that the spring season will be a busy one. To avoid closing delays, buyers need to get into the market sooner rather than later, says Paul Anastos, president of Mortgage Master in Walpole, Mass., a division of loanDepot.

Like a traffic jam, “every minute later you leave costs you 10 minutes,” he notes. “Every day, the audience looking for houses increases exponentially.”

Anastos also urges home buyers to get preapproved for a loan prior to home-shopping — a step above pre-qualification. He says that alone could save home shoppers up to 10 days in the closing period.

“If you find a home this weekend, you look highly competitive” too, he says.

Source: “This Spring, Expect Higher Home Prices,” The Wall Street Journal

“It’s definitely a challenge,” said Eric Roberge, a certified financial planner in Boston and founder of Beyond Your Hammock in a recent interview with CBS MoneyWatch. “That first-time home buying, it’s really an emotional experience — you’re coming into your own, you kind of feel successful … you tend to just overlook certain things or say, ‘I’m just going to get into the home and figure it out.'”

These are a few types of expenses that new owners should not overlook when buying a home for the first time.

Fees/Expenses: Make sure to allocate funds to pay attorney fees, appraisal fees, application fees, recording fees, and the costs involved in getting a mortgage. Buyers also need to budget for prepaid expenses including homeowner’s insurance and property taxes for the next quarter.

Title insurance: The average cost of title insurance is 0.5 percent of the home’s purchase price, though it does vary by state. Title insurance is important to have because it protects the buyer from the chance that the previous seller didn’t own the property in the first place.

Home Warranty: This protects buyers from expensive replacements or repairs when buying a home that isn’t brand new. According to CBS MoneyWatch, the cost of basic warranty ranges from $350-500. Warranty with extra protection will run around $100-300 more.

Moving costs: When buying a new place, moving expenses are of course, inevitable, so make sure your clients make room in their budget to accommodate them. The typical in-state move costs around $1,170, according to the American Moving and Storage Association, while an out-of-state move can run around $5,630.

Furniture/Decor: It seems like an obvious expense, but many new buyers forget that moving on up from their previous one-bedroom or studio apartment to a single-family home means there are many more rooms that need to be furnished and decorated.

Source: “Costs that can blindside new homeowners,” CBS MoneyWatch

“The median age of a millennial home buyer is 30 years old, which typically is the time in life where one settles down to marry and raise a family,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Even if an urban setting is where they’d like to buy their first home, the need for more space at an affordable price is for the most part pushing their search further out. Furthermore, limited inventory in millennials’ price range, minimal entry-level condo construction, and affordability pressures make buying in the city extremely difficult for most young households.”

The percentage of millennials purchasing a home in an urban or central city area fell to 17 percent in this year’s survey – down from 21 percent the year prior. Also, 10 percent of millennials purchased a multifamily home, down from 15 percent a year ago.

Millennials comprise the largest group of recent home buyers – 35 percent which trumps the 31 percent of baby boomers, 26 percent of Gen X buyers, and 9 percent from the Silent Generation, NAR’s survey showed.

When it comes to neighborhood choice, millennials were most influenced by the quality of the neighborhood (63 percent) and convenience to jobs (60 percent). Gen X buyers were most swayed by convenience to schools.

Source: “Millennials More Likely to Buy in Suburban Areas,” RISMedia