In preparing this issue of Expectations & Market Realities in Real Estate, Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC), Deloitte, and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reviewed the progress made during the years since the Great Recession (December 2007 through June 2009), and particularly during the past year. Our collective view was that investors started out the year 2013 determined to “turn the page” on past uncertainties and to focus on what laid ahead. The 2012 presidential election was in the past, tax increases and reductions in government spending were in place, and we and many others thought that with the help of a third round of quantitative easing policies implemented by the Federal Reserve, the economy would finally pick up speed.

The economy did begin to pick up speed in the second half of 2013, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.1 percent in third quarter 2013 and a first estimate of 3.2 percent growth for fourth quarter 2013. However, there were plenty of events during the year causing uncertainty, both in the U.S. and throughout the world...