US recession – what impact will it have on the housing market?

A potential recession this year will yield challenges for the real estate market, according to researchers at CBRE.

Market researchers provided their predictions during the recent CBRE US Real Estate Outlook for 2023, designed to provide actionable intelligence to help investors navigate the year ahead and uncover opportunity and uncertainty.

“2023 is likely to be a challenging year,” CBRE officials said as an introduction to the presentation. “How severe is the recession likely to be? Will inflation come down? When will interest rates peak? Which property sectors will be most resilient?”

A backdrop of uncertainty

Moderator Julie Whelan, head of occupier research for the Americas at CBRE, began the presentation with an outlook suffused with challenge: “Change, progress, opportunity. As we start these are three themes that offer cautious optimism against a backdrop of uncertainty. While the pace of change is accelerated and creating opportunities for the real estate industry, acting on that change can be difficult under the very economic conditions that we’re in,” she began.