Source: Market Watch —
Some aspiring homebuyers are in for some much-needed relief. “Right now might appear more appealing to some buyers because, recently, the housing market has been cooling. Prices are dropping in many areas, housing supply is rising, sellers are offering more concessions and mortgage rates are falling,” says Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree.
But no doubt, after rapid escalations in home prices and mortgage rates in the past couple years (though both have eased recently), many buyers are wary of what’s to come. So we asked economists and real estate pros for their housing market predictions this winter.
Prediction 1: Mortgage rates will “continue their downward trek”
“With the Fed switching to a smaller rate hike in February, mortgage rates will continue their downward trek and a lower mortgage rate improves affordability, bringing more buyers back to the market,” says Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
For his part, Channel also says lower rates also might bring at least some buyers back. “There may be more buyer demand assuming rates continue to fall, or at the very least don’t start climbing again, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a high probability that demand will dramatically rise back to where it was at the start of last year. All in all, February’s housing market will likely remain more friendly to buyers than it was just a few months ago,” says Channel.
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