There's a floor underneath every ceiling and rising housing prices in several key markets has one real estate economist saying that there's much better economic standing for consumers choosing to rent right now in those areas.

Strong demand for homes, near-record-low mortgage rates and a shortage of properties for sale keep pushing prices higher in much of the country, making it more advantageous for consumers in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Seattle and Miami to rent and to postpone ownership, according to second-quarter figures from a national housing index created by researchers at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University.

"In these housing markets, worries of a correction continue," said Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D., co-author of the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent Index, and a real estate economist and associate dean in FAU's College of Business.