A 2020 Vision of the Housing Market
By Thomas Nelson on 1/9/2020
Industry news before you buy
In short, 2020 will be a positive year—but not as great as 2019
As 2020 begins, we look to the housing trends to see how the housing market may change in the new year. Will it continue to offer lower rates and high demand? Will the lack of supply finally be addressed? While we won’t know until it happens, here is what the experts are saying.
To predict new trends, we have to start by looking at old ones. 2019 was an incredible year for the housing market, setting a record high for the median home price in the US: $315,000.
Here are our expectations of 2020:
Decent Mortgage Rates
Rates are expected to stay below 4% but probably won’t drop too much. Both Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association are expecting rates between 3.7% and 3.9% while Fannie Mae is showing rates as low as 3.5% to 3.6% to be present throughout the year.
Limited Supply
Houses are being built—just not where it counts. As Boomers start to retire and downsize, select areas are rebounding and having supply level out. However, popular areas like San Francisco and Seattle are still lacking affordable housing for homebuyers wanting to enter the market.
Stagnate Prices
The low supply of homes for sale, mixed with the inability of people being able to afford homes, is leading economists to expect that home prices will remain flat or even drop in neighborhoods along the coast.
New Ways to Sell
This industry will continue to go digital. As more and more Millennials enter the market, they’re expecting the speed and ease that they’ve come to know from modern technology. Luckily, at Guaranteed Rate we’ve been ahead of this trend for years by being one of the first to offer a digital mortgage.
Sources: Marketwatch.com, Forbes.com, Daveramsey.com
All information provided in this publication is for informational and educational purposes only, and in no way is any of the content contained herein to be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice or instruction.