Confidence that residential property values will continue to climb is also playing a role in convincing would-be repeat buyers to take the plunge. The share of respondents who projected home prices will rise in the next 12 months was 53 percent in July, close to a three-year high, according to results of a survey by Fannie Mae.

‘Sounder Footing’

“The economy looks to be on a sounder footing, home prices are rising, and expectations are that they’ll continue to increase,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “Not only would they be able to sell their current property, but also in terms of purchasing their larger home, they’ll feel that their homes will appreciate with time.”

As growth in the U.S. is sustained, global markets are starting to stabilize. China’s industrial output rose more than projected in July, while in the U.K., exports rose to a record in the second quarter, according to a pair of reports today.

Stocks in the U.S. fell, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index headed for its biggest weekly retreat since June after reaching a record on Aug. 2. The S&P 500 dropped 0.2 percent to 1,694.62 at 10:19 a.m. in New York.

Luxury Homes

In Rancho Santa Fe, California, increasing buyer confidence has helped K. Ann Brizolis’s luxury home real estate business to “crawl back” from the bust.

Now that homeowners can sell their current residences at less of a loss or at a gain, more are able to move up to the $2 million to $3 million average price point of homes Brizolis sells. “It’s sort of a trickle-up environment.”

Buyers who already own houses may also have an easier time acquiring financing, said David Berson, chief economist for Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio. They have “much deeper and richer” credit histories. It’s also less likely that they’ll need loans to start with, Kolko said.

In 2012, 81 percent of repeat buyers financed their home purchases, compared with 96 percent of first-time buyers, according to an NAR profile of buyers and sellers.