Mortgage rates are beginning to flatten after sharply rising over the last several months, and as a housing boom gives way to a housing correction, most forecasters are anticipating price deceleration in the nation’s hottest real estate markets. Rick Palacios Jr., head of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, expects home prices to drop by mid-single digit percentages over the next two years, and other market experts like Capital Economics’ Matthew Pointon agree.
While home prices will likely post only small declines nationally, popular destinations like Boise, Austin, and Las Vegas could see much more significant deceleration, MarketWatch reports. In Provo, Utah, nearly half of all homes for sale experienced price drops in May, while 46% of homes in Salt Lake and 44.2% of for-sale homes in Boise also had their prices reduced.
Inventory is climbing, too. Realtor.com data from June noted a 18.7% increase in the number of new homes available for buyers — the “fastest yearly pace of all time,” the company said. The biggest jumps in listings were in markets like Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina and Nashville on a month-over-month basis.
“The U.S. housing market is at the beginning stages of the most significant contraction in activity since 2006,” Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, said earlier this month.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Housing Markets
Metros Where Housing Prices Have Doubled in Less Than 10 Years
Historical data show it's taken less than 10 years for home prices to double in 68 of the country’s 100 largest cities
Affordability
The Disappearing Act That Is Middle-Income Housing
An expert weighs in on the diminishing supply of middle-income housing, which is particularly acute in California, and what to do about it
Market Data + Trends
A Look at Homeownership Rates Across the Nation
Data for homeownership rates in the 100 largest US cities show Port St. Lucie, Fla., in the top spot, while West Virginia is the state with the most homeowners
