The past few years have seen great upheaval in the United States’ housing market, a period of instability sparked by the covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
At first the economic shutdown left interest rates, and therefore mortgage rates, on the floor. However to address sustained high inflation during 2022 the Federal Reserve instituted a number of interest rate hikes, making borrowing especially expensive.
After this fluctuation it is difficult to predict where the housing market will go in 2023, but Forbes spoke to a number of real estate experts to get their take on the outlook for the year ahead…
Sales will likely be down in 2023
Instability has been the characterising trend of the past few years, and one that is rarely a recipe for economic strength. The housing market has broadly favoured the seller in recent years, but this could change in 2023 with experts expecting homes to stay on the market for longer before a buyer is found.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, believes that the total number of sales could be down this year, due to the changeable mortgage conditions making agreements more difficult.
Hale said: “We expect home sales to be dramatically lower, down 14.1% compared to 2022 as both buyers and sellers pull back from a housing market and economy in transition.
Millennials may make their leap into the housing market
While overall sales could well be down this year, certain groups may decide that this is the right time to make the plunge. The…
