2021 proved to be a great year for sellers and a tough one for those looking to buy. Sellers were able to price high and still receive above-asking offers, multiple offers, and all-cash offers to require no financing. With many people working from home and interest rates being low, you’d think that would make this a very desirable time to buy a home, especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer. Un-fortunately with the price hikes, limited inventory, and fierce bidding, this didn’t prove to be the case. The 2021 housing market saw a remarkable level of growth with home sales up a record 19.8%. According to Fannie Mae, median home prices are predicted to rise 7.9% more between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022. This will reflect a slowing of the current year’s growth, however, it still exceeds the norm for growth seen in years prior. With that esti-mation, it sounds like the housing market is expected to start returning to a “normalish” level of price appreciation within the upcoming year. In addition to the rise in prices, it is expected that mortgage rates will also climb to rates in the 3.1-3.4% range. The mortgage rates are not expected to pull down the prices of homes, howev-er, the shortage of homes available for sale will continue to drive a sustained strong apprecia-tion in home values. With all that being said, although it seems as though 2022 will remain a hot market, it will gradually begin to reflect a little friendlier environment for buyers.
2021 proved to be a great year for sellers and a tough one for those looking to buy. Sellers were able to price high and still receive above-asking offers, multiple offers, and all-cash offers to require no financing. With many people working from home and interest rates being low, you’d think that would make this a very desirable time to buy a home, especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer. Un-fortunately with the price hikes, limited inventory, and fierce bidding, this didn’t prove to be the case. The 2021 housing market saw a remarkable level of growth with home sales up a record 19.8%. According to Fannie Mae, median home prices are predicted to rise 7.9% more between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022. This will reflect a slowing of the current year’s growth, however, it still exceeds the norm for growth seen in years prior. With that esti-mation, it sounds like the housing market is expected to start returning to a “normalish” level of price appreciation within the upcoming year. In addition to the rise in prices, it is expected that mortgage rates will also climb to rates in the 3.1-3.4% range. The mortgage rates are not expected to pull down the prices of homes, howev-er, the shortage of homes available for sale will continue to drive a sustained strong apprecia-tion in home values. With all that being said, although it seems as though 2022 will remain a hot market, it will gradually begin to reflect a little friendlier environment for buyers.
