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Anyone looking for a new home should have a better chance of finding one in the next year, as the supply of new homes approaches demand, but you can still expect historically high prices to drop. everywhere, according to a new report from Realtor. com.
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The company’s 2022 housing forecast, released on Wednesday, December 1, forecasts that U.S. home sales will rise 6.6% in 2022 to their highest level in 16 years. Sales will come in part from an improvement in the housing stock in the market, as single-family housing starts are expected to rise 5% in 2022, on top of a 15% gain in 2021.
Median home prices are expected to rise 2.9% next year, a gain well below that of 2021, when prices rose about 12%. It will still be a sellers’ market in 2022, although buyers will have a few more opportunities than this year.
“With more sellers expected to enter the market as buyer competition remains fierce, we expect strong home sales growth at a more sustainable pace than in 2021,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor .com, in a press release. Affordability will be more of a challenge as interest rates and prices rise, but remote working can broaden the search areas and allow young buyers to find their first home sooner than they do. would not have done otherwise. And with over 45 million millennials in the 26-35 age bracket making their first purchases by 2022, we expect the market to remain competitive. “
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The COVID-19 Omicron variant could throw a wrench into things if the United States is forced to implement restrictions similar to those that were put in place when the pandemic first struck. So far, the main impact of the pandemic has contributed to increased demand for additional space, which has been a boon for suburban markets. The number of Realtor.com users viewing suburban homes has increased 42.1% since the start of COVID-19.
“Suburbs will continue to be more popular than large urban subways as homebuyers seek relatively affordable and larger homes,†Realtor.com said.
An analysis of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States found that all of them are expected to see house prices rise in 2022. Some price increases will be minimal – less than 1% in Honolulu and Hartford, Connecticut, for example. But many will be quite steep, especially in Portland, Maine (an expected 10% price gain); Providence, Rhode Island (9.5%); Salt Lake City, Utah (8.5%); Worcester, Massachusetts (8.2%); Boise, Idaho (7.9%); and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida. (7.9%)
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Most markets are also expected to see an increase in home sales. Here are the housing markets that are expected to see double-digit sales growth in 2022:
- Akron, Ohio (up 11.4% year-over-year)
- Atlanta (10.0%)
- Boise, Idaho (12.9%)
- Charlotte, North Carolina (9.9%)
- Colorado Springs, Colorado (10.3%)
- Columbus, Ohio (13.7%)
- Dayton, Ohio (10.7%)
- El Paso, Texas (10.6)
- Greenville, South Carolina (11.4%)
- Indianapolis (14.8%)
- Kansas City, Mississippi (11.0%)
- Milwaukee (10.5%)
- Salt Lake City (15.2%)
- Spokane, Washington (12.8%)
However, not all markets will see their sales increase. Housing markets that could turn ugly in 2022 with declining sales include Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla .; San Francisco and San José, California; Honolulu; and New York.
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