There is a growing trend for young adults to leave their rural and suburban communities to move to cities. Most career opportunities are based in cities, and young people want to be close to the action.

Some suburbs have seen the number of their younger residents shrink dramatically over the past few years, and they're trying to figure out ways to lure young professionals back, The New York Times reports.

For example, some suburban towns are trying to make themselves more appealing to younger residents by constructing more affordable apartment complexes or appealing more to their lifestyles. Some are adding new concert venues, diverse restaurants and bicycle lanes, it was noted in a report from the National Association of Realtors.

Some cities near train stations are taking it as an opportunity to refresh their downtowns. For example, one city is building 850 apartments — condos, co-ops and rentals — near the train station in the hopes of attracting more young residents. It also added a new concert venue.

Suburban towns are responding after recent population reports have put their age breakdowns in perspective. Some housing groups say that the increasing cost for homes and the resistance of some localities to build apartment buildings with modest rentals is fueling the trend.

Q: Is the average down payment in a home purchase dropping?

A: Yes, the down payment required in home purchases is slowing dropping.

According to a report released by LendingTree, down payment percentages for 30-year fixed-rate purchase loans fell in the first quarter to an average of 15.78 percent, down from just higher than 16 percent in the last quarter of 2013.

At the same time, the company found average credit scores for borrowers matched with lenders on its own network have dropped 6 percent year over year, opening up the credit pool a little more.

Q: Is the median price of homes rising?

A: It is slowly increasing. The median sales price of residential properties — including both distressed and nondistressed sales — was $164,500 in March, up 1 percent from February and up 10 percent from March 2013.

March was the 24th consecutive month in which U.S. median home prices increased on an annual basis, and the 10 percent annual increase was the biggest annual percentage increase in that 24-month span.

"The housing market showed signs of coming out of hibernation in March after a sluggish fall and winter," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

"Median home prices increased on a monthly basis following six consecutive months where they were flat or declining, and increased on an annual basis by the biggest percentage since hitting bottom in March 2012."

Q: Is there a decreasing number of short sale transactions?

A: Yes, that number has been dropping dramatically since the expiration of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.

A sharp drop in short sales began at the start of this year, likely because of the increase in taxes borrowers will now have to pay on forgiven debts, it was noted in a report from the National Association of Realtors.

The MFDRA exempted borrowers from paying taxes on any mortgage debt forgiven by a lender in a short sale or loan modification. Borrowers now will have to count forgiven mortgage debt as income on their federal tax returns. Congress has yet to renew the act.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved a package of tax-code extensions that includes renewal of mortgage debt relief retroactive to January 2014 and through Dec. 31, 2015. But it has yet to go before the full Senate, according to NAR.

Q: Is the proposed government-sponsored enterprise reform bill a good idea?

A: Here's an interesting quote from National Mortgage News: "The Senate GSE reform bill may bloat the bureaucracy, encourage risky behavior and expose taxpayers to losses, without sufficient support for affordable housing. That could still be better than nothing."

Q: Why are mortgage rates fluctuating up and down?

A: Here is what Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, has to say on that subject:

"Mortgage rates were down slightly following the release of real GDP estimates for the first quarter of the year, which rose 0.1 percent and fell, well, short of market expectations.

"Meanwhile, the pending home sales index rose in March, ending eight consecutive months of decline, and the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite house price index rose 12.9 percent over the 12 months ending in February 2014."

To find out more about Jim Woodard and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.