The city's Plan for Transformation aims to diversify public-housing units, adding a mix of market-rate and subsidized residences. But the project, one of the country's most closely watched public housing experiments, has been hampered by the flailing economy and faces protests from people living in the units.

Housing authorities across the country have all but stopped issuing rent vouchers as they try to deal with across-the-board spending cuts. Many newly issued vouchers have been rescinded, leaving some people homeless or doubled up with family and friends.

Chicago's Cabrini-Green was the scene of several incidents of violence over decades that earned it a reputation as one of the nation's worst public housing complexes. But the city is tearing down the high rises at Cabrini, and the two families who remain could be out as soon as Tuesday.

Prices were up 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the data trackers at CoreLogic. It's the latest sign of the housing sector's recovery.