Homeowners will see increases in the rates they pay for flood insurance soon, if they haven't already, with owners of vacation homes seeing the biggest jump. But that isn't reason enough to drop coverage. Flood insurance is one of the best deals going.

Though floods can bring walls of water 20 feet high, even a few inches of water can cause thousands of dollars in damage. Between 2007 and 2011, the average flood claim fielded by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was nearly $30,000. The cost of the typical flood policy is about $625 a year.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that your homeowner's policy has you covered, or that a flood won't happen to you. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which operates the flood insurance program, flooding occurs practically every day, practically everywhere. And it is costly, racking up $2.9 billion in losses between 2002 and 2011.

Fact is, flooding is the nation's most common natural disaster. About 90 percent of all disasters in the U.S. involve flooding, and flash floods happen in all 50 states.

In areas prone to flooding, there is a 26 percent chance a homeowner will be hit by a flood of some kind at least once during the life of a 30-year mortgage. And flood damage can just as easily result from overburdened or clogged drainage systems and drainage from new development as from major storms.

"New roads and housing developments reduce the land's natural ability to absorb water," says The Woodlands, Texas, insurance agent Gordy Bunch. "Runoff can multiply as much as six times when the land is paved over."

Just because your house lies in the 100-year flood plain doesn't mean your home is safe for the next so-many years, either. That's a common misconception that lulls people into a false sense of security, says Bunch, whose agency, The Woodlands Financial Group, has been recognized by FEMA for its work with flood insurance.

"The 100-year flood plain simply means your home or business has a 1 percent chance of flooding every year," the insurance pro says, "not once in every 100 years."

Another common misunderstanding about flood coverage, particularly among new owners, is that standard homeowner policies cover homes for flood damage. They do not. So if your home is damaged by a hurricane, tropical storm or even heavy rains, you are not covered unless you have a separate flood policy.

Every inch of the country is mapped into one of two risk-based flood zones. By law, federally regulated and insured lenders must require flood coverage on properties in high-risk areas, where there's a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Lenders must tell you whether the property is in a high- or low-risk area.

Lenders typically do not require coverage on properties in low- to moderate-risk areas. But coverage is still recommended; one in five claims come from folks outside a high-risk zone.

Fortunately, everyone -- even renters and business owners -- can buy a flood policy. The lone caveat is that the property must be in a community that participates in the NFIP, which Congress created in 1968 to fill a void in coverage that most private companies would not offer. About 20,000 communities participate.

There's no need to shop for flood insurance. The NFIP sets all the rates, which factor in location, structure type and whether the property has a basement. But rates are rising.

Under 2012 legislation that reauthorized and reformed the underfunded program, owners who have paid subsidized rates for second homes, business properties and properties that have incurred repeated and severe losses must now pay the full actuarial cost of the insurance. Rates for these properties will increase by no more than 25 percent a year until the premium meets the full cost.

Rates that other policyholders pay are rising, too. The bill raised the ceiling on premium rate increases from 10 percent to 20 percent. And it requires that premiums on new policies for properties not currently covered be based on actuarial rates.

According to the new law, premiums on any property located within an NFIP-participating area must accurately reflect the current risk of flooding. But throw up your hands in frustration; that determination won't be made until the effective date of any revised or updated flood insurance rate map.

Also, any increase in the risk premium will be phased in over five years, at a rate of 20 percent a year. Ditto for properties located in an area not previously designated as one with special flood hazards; the premium will be phased in over five years at 20 percent per year, following the effective date of the remapping.

While last summer's legislation calls for higher rates, it allows policyholders who are not required by their lenders to have their premiums escrowed every month to accept payment in installments. Previously, a single annual premium was required.

Still on the fence? Here's one more factoid that might make a difference: Federal disaster assistance is typically in the form of a loan. A $50,000 loan at 4 percent a year will run $240 a month for 30 years. At the same time, a $100,000 flood policy costs about $33 a month.

The latest sales numbers from the nation's multiple listing services are in, and housing is looking good.

As of May 1, only nine of the 100 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) with more than 500 sales in the previous three months saw prices decline. The other 91 booked higher prices -- some quite significantly.

Overall, according to data supplied by Pro Teck Valuation Services of Waltham, Mass., the average mean price of the hundred most active CBSAs was up almost 12 percent from the same period a year ago. CBSAs are defined as "micropolitan" areas of at least 10,000 people who are tied to an urban center by commuting.

The average median nationally as of May 1 was $212,869. At the same time last year, it was $190,278.

But throw those numbers out with the morning trash. Since all real estate is local, the national median is useful only as a headline. What's more important to buyers and sellers -- and even owners -- is knowing whether the real estate market is rising or falling where they live.

Much more valuable in gauging the path of house prices is price per square foot, which is the great equalizer. Whereas other measures are often influenced by an unusually high number of sales at one end of the price spectrum or the other, the median price per square foot evens things out.

By normalizing for swings in the type and price of houses sold, the price per square foot -- or PPSF -- represents a truer market snapshot and is a better way by which all houses can be judged against one another.

That alone makes Pro Teck's figures more meaningful. And giving them ever greater credence is the fact that they are the most recent.

Whereas other measures you might read or hear about are often up to six months old, the numbers supplied to this column by the Massachusetts valuation company are collected from the country's 850 multiple list services and updated daily. You can't get much more current than that.

With that as a backdrop, let's take a peek at what's happening in selected places around the country.

The latest leader in the quarterly price dance is Atlanta. The median PPSF of a house sold in the last three months in the Atalanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta CBSA jumped 41 percent, from $46.64 a year ago to $65.74, while the median price rose 43 percent, from $95,000 to $136,000.

Atlanta's PPSF numbers compare quite favorably to the national average median, which was $115.91 per square foot as of May 1, an increase of nearly 11 percent from a year ago.

Detroit was another big gainer. The median PPSF there rose almost 33 percent, from $38.30 to $50.79, the lowest PPSF of the hundred most active markets.

Of the eight next best-performing CBSAs, one is in Arizona, another is in Florida, two are in Nevada and four are in California. And in all eight, the average median jump in square foot price was from 22 percent to 28 percent.

The most expensive market is San Francisco, at least pricewise. There, the median price rose an astonishing $180,000, from $735,000 this time last spring to $915,000 as of May 1, nearly a 25 percent gain.

And as a result, the per-square-foot price in the Bay Area rose 22 percent, only the 11th-strongest gain, from $448.61 to $545.60.

Down the Pacific coast: In Los Angeles, the PPSF rose 18.91 percent during the period, from $229.28 to $272.63, while the PPSF in San Diego rose 17.89 percent, from $200 to $235.77.

Moving across the country, the median PPSF was up 7.55 percent, to $76.82, in Houston, and 7.51 percent, to $85.19, in Dallas. In Chicago, it was up 1.71 percent, to $95.87.

In Florida, the median was up strongly across the state. In Orlando, it was up nearly 19 percent, to $82.59. Miami's PPSF was up 17.4 percent, to $112.74. In Tampa-St. Pete, it was up 15.2 percent, to $83.98. And in Sarasota, it rose 13.2 percent, to $66.71.

Are you ready to bet that the great housing recession is finally over and that values are rising again? If so, some of the nation's largest institutional investors are ready to roll the dice with you.

Pension funds, endowment portfolios and the like don't typically invest in residential real estate, which is the world's largest asset class. But given their long-term horizons, housing is considered a natural fit. And now there's a new investment vehicle that aligns their stash of cash with creditworthy homebuyers.

It's called REX HomeBuyer, and it is a form of shared appreciation. But it's not a mortgage, nor is it down payment assistance. "It's not debt of any kind," says James Riccitelli, co-CEO at firstREX in San Francisco. "It's an innovative solution that helps responsible buyers bridge the funding gap."

REX HomeBuyer is an equity investment by private real estate investors that pays off when you sell the house. If there's a profit, fine, you hand over a pre-arranged share of the gain. And if there's a loss, REX shares in the loss.

"We invest in the home at the same time the buyer does," says Riccitelli, "and we expect to make a profit or loss at the same time the buyer does."

Here's how it works: Say you want to buy a house that sells for $500,000, but you're a little short on the requisite 20 percent down payment ($100,000 in this case). FirstRex will provide up to half of the down payment, or $50,000.

In return, you typically agree to give the company 40 percent of the change in value when you sell.

So, 10 years from now, let's say the home is now worth $600,000. If you sell, firstREX gets its original investment of $50,000 plus its share of the change in value, or $40,000. You receive the rest.

But by then, you've paid your $400,000 mortgage down to $325,000, so your payoff on your original $50,000 investment is $185,000. That's $60,000 from your share of the appreciation, $75,000 you built in equity by paying down the loan and your original $50,000 down payment.

Better yet, during the time you owned the house, you made no payments to firstREX, and your 20 percent down payment prevented you from having to pay costly mortgage insurance.

Now suppose the housing gods turn angry again, and your house is worth only $400,000 when you sell in a decade. The mortgage payoff is still the same $325,000, leaving the proceeds to be split 60-40. So firstREX receives $10,000: its original $50,000 investment, less $40,000, which is its share of the $100,000 loss. You get $65,000.

Recapping: When values rise, says Riccitelli, "the buyer benefits from using our money. We make a healthy profit, but so does the buyer, typically as much or more than we do."

And when values decline? "The buyer benefits from the use of our money and actually makes a profit on us by paying us less at the end than the amount we invested," the long-time finance industry executive says. "An even better deal for the buyer."

Even when there's no change in value, he adds, "the buyer benefits from using our money at no cost. And in all three situations, we enabled the buyer to purchase the home in the first place."

"The buyer benefits no matter how the outcome plays out," says Riccitelli.

The REX program is only a few months old, and only about 20 deals have been made to date. So it's way too soon to tell whether this is the next great thing in housing finance. But Riccitelli says his group has trillions of dollars to invest in an asset class in which they now have a zero allocation.

FirstREX itself is a real estate equity investment firm founded in 2004 to focus on developing financing products based on equity instead of debt. Its shareholders include world-class institutional investment firms and financial institutions as well as senior management executives.

Riccitelli won't reveal his backers' identities. "We are bound by confidentiality provisions," he says. "But they are very, very serious people -- including myself. And they are lining up" to put their money in housing.

Together, they have spent upwards of $20 million to build and develop the REX HomeBuyer program over the last eight years. "They've done a lot of research," Riccitelli says of his anonymous investors. "They have a huge confidence in the housing market."

They are patient, too. They promise to wait until you sell, even if they have to wait 30 years. And they promise not to ever sell their share of your property to another investor.

Of course, REX isn't for everyone. Folks with shaky credit and income need not apply. You've got to be short on cash, not credit. You can even have enough for a full down payment on your own, but for one reason or another, you may be uncomfortable spending it all to buy a house. Maybe you want some left over to buy new furnishings or make some improvements.

Whatever the case, you'll still need a first mortgage. But because REX is structured in such a way that it is always subordinate to the mortgage -- and because it is in a first-loss position along with the buyer -- lenders are likely to consider a loan a safer bet with REX in the deal.

REX ends when the buyer sells or when everyone on the title passes away, whichever comes first, subject to a maximum term of 30 years. But the buyer can end the agreement at any time without selling by buying out the investor.

If that happens, the agreement calls for REX to hire an independent third-party appraiser to determine the home's value, and you pay an amount equal to the company's original investment plus any profit that would have been earned had the place sold for the newly appraised value.

One caveat, though: This is not a short-term funding solution. If you sell within the first three years, there is an additional charge.