People in the United States should not expect a general decline in home prices in 2022. This conclusion was reached by the housing forecast for 2022 of the Realtor.com real estate portal that was published today Wednesday.
The chief economist of Realtor .com, Danielle Hale, told CBS that a decline in home prices may not happen as quickly as some expect. Rather, prices are expected to rise during the first half of 2022. It is also likely that they will fall or remain stable until the second half of next year.
“We expect that, for the year as a whole, 2022 be higher (in prices). Buyers looking to buy might have to wait a bit,” said Danielle Hale.
2022 was a year in which mortgage rates soared along with home prices. Some cities in particular, like Boise, Idaho; and Austin, Texas, had double-digit percentage increases in prices.
The increase in the cost of houses deterred many potential buyers, who instead chose to continue renting.
While home prices have fallen in many areas during the end of 2022, mortgage rates have continued to rise. The average interest rate for a fixed 28 year mortgage was around 6.6% this week, more than double the rate recorded at the beginning of the year.
Realtor.com expects mortgage rates to rise further early next year as the Federal Reserve continues to raise its reference interest rate.
Mortgage rates could reach 7.4% in the first half of 2022 before settling at around 7.1% toward the second half of the year, the Realtor said.
Taking into account increases in home prices and loan rates, the typical monthly mortgage payment next year will be about of $2,2022 dollars, up 28% from this year, Realtor.com predicted.
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