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Six years ago, the U.S. housing market plunged off a cliff. Now prices are bouncing back up — sharply in many markets.

That has some real estate analysts saying 2013 may mark the turning point — when pent-up demand will revive the housing sector and boost the broader economy.

The optimists say millions of Americans have been living with relatives or renting for years now, trying to ride out the Great Recession and the slow recovery. At this point, many are ready to buy homes of their own.

If that theory turns out to be right, the home-sales boom could lead to new jobs in construction, landscaping, drapery hanging, furniture making, lending and much more.

A Housing Resurgence?

The reasons for optimism are compelling:

— Census data show that the number of such multigenerational households of adults rose from 46.5 million in 2007 to 51.4 million by the end of 2009 — a 10.5 percent jump over just three years. That means millions of young adults are still living with their parents, and may be eager to move out.

— Rents are high. RealFacts LLC said that its most recent survey shows that out of 41 markets, rents were up in 39 and remained flat in two.

— Even as rents rise, homes remain affordable in most markets because prices are well below peak levels and interest rates remain low by historic standards.

— Overall household debt has declined to the lowest level since 2006, according to a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That means more people are in better financial shape to buy a house.

In light of all those factors, "there's pretty clearly a lot of pent-up demand," said Andrew Paciorek, an economist with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington.

His research shows that between 2006 and 2011, the number of Americans forming new households was less than half what it would have been under normal economic conditions. That rate of household formation represented "the lowest five-year period on record — at least back to the 1950s or so," he said.

His economic model predicts that the housing market will continue to see a steady boost as Americans finally shake off the recession and get back to forming new households.

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Housing Market Shows More Signs Of Life Aug. 10, 2013

Egypt suffered a day of terrible violence Wednesday, and the bloodshed was compounded by several developments that suggest more confrontations are ahead.

Egypt's security forces reasserted their authority on a number of fronts and gave every appearance that they would press ahead with a crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups.

Here are several examples:

State of Emergency: The interim government declared a state of emergency for a month, which includes a 7 p.m. curfew. Egyptians have a long and painful history with emergency laws and are sure to be skeptical about the timetable. The former president, Hosni Mubarak, maintained virtual martial law for three decades until he was ousted in 2011.

Mohammed Morsi, the elected president who was removed by the military on July 3, declared a month-long state of emergency back in January, giving the security forces broad powers to arrest and detain people.

More On Egypt

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'Bloodbath' In Cairo As Troops Move On Morsi Supporters

Nobody, apparently. And maybe that's the thing: Bianco says she'd never done her "Total Eclipse" riff in public before, so everybody's getting their first look.

Plenty of New Yorkers (and tourists) have seen her diva mimicry, though, not least in the Times Square institution Forbidden Broadway, where she earned a Drama Desk nomination and honed her deadly accurate impressions of Kristin Chenoweth and Bernadette Peters. ("Never met either of them, but hope they understand that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.")

And she takes her solo show Diva Moments on the road from time to time; next up are dates in London, Sept. 6 and 7 at the Hippodrome.

The occasion for this "Total Eclipse" bit's debut was 54 Below's weekly Backstage night, a kind of open-mic hootenanny for theater types and madly ambitious fans. And yes, it was unrehearsed.

"I have a rough outline," Bianco says; she'd given host Suzie Mosher a list of diva names to shout out, and she knew she wanted to end with Celine Dion, "but the rest of it was sort of loosey-goosey."

But then Bianco seems like the game sort in general. Her NPR-adjacent experience involved Jeff Lunden, who'd written a song about Billy Crystal, who was the honoree at a gala at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Bianco, one of the two singers hired to perform, "had to sing it as if I were an old woman who grew up with Billy Crystal in Lawnguyland. So I think Jeff knew I wasn't afraid of funny voices."

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European Union Wiz Me: A Show Tune About The Euro

When you hear the word "kebab" in America, you might think of skewers with chunks of chicken or beef and vegetables, marinated and grilled on coals or gas. But say "kebab" in the Middle East, and it means a lot of things — chunks of lamb or liver on skewers, or the more popular version of grilled ground meat logs found in Turkey, Iran and much of the Arab world.

If you spend enough time in the Middle East, you learn it can be hard to pinpoint the origins of things. Everybody claims to have invented hummus, flatbread and even yogurt. And don't even try to figure out who invented the kebab.

I talked to a historian of Arab medieval food on my last trip to Iraq. He told me the word is Arabic in origin and comes from the word keba, which means "to turn."

My guide to the Iraqi version of the kebab is Sami al Hilali, a longtime colleague, friend and really good cook.

Hilali says he uses a combination of lamb, beef, lamb fat, onions, parsley and spices, all ground up with his hands. He then molds the mixture onto skewers. The skewers are not the kind of skewers many Americans use — they're flat, wide and look sort of like a blunt sword.

When Hilali is ready to cook, he puts together about 18 skewers and heads outside. He uses a grill that's more like a 3-foot long trough with hardwood charcoal. He's oriented a fan to blow air over the coals and heat them up faster. The sparks are bright orange and look like fireworks.

Isra al Rubei'i, who is helping with the food, says the fan is a matter of practicality.

"Sometimes it's without a blower; using a manual fan would ... give it a more delicious flavor," she says. "But this is just to save time, you know, when you have many skewers to grill."

When the kebabs are cooked, Hilali prepares a plate with bread that will be their final resting place. Rubei'i says the bread is essential.

"The best part is the flatbread that is soaked in the fat coming out of a charred kebab skewer. You know they fight over this one," she says, laughing.

The Iraqi medieval food historian who shared the origin of the word kebab also told me another story about them: They appear in a book from the southern Iraqi city of Basra called The Book of Misers. It was written in the 9th century.

The miser in this story is a courtly man who invites people to his garden. He tells the guests, "Here's the stream, and here's the fire. Catch your fish and make your kebab."

It's the first known mention of the word. My friends nod, knowingly, as if to say, "You see? It all comes from Iraq." Then we get on with our eating.

I've had kebab all around the region — Arab kebab, Turkish kebab and Persian kebab. They're all different, and they're all pretty good. In the end, it doesn't really matter who invented kebab. What matters is that fire has touched meat, that the meat is good, and the company is even better.

This post is part of Global Grill, a summer series from All Things Considered that pulls apart the smoky flavors of grilled foods from around the world.