HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
FEATURED ARTICLE
across the nation. As individual housing markets continue to follow unique paths of recovery, perhaps the biggest trend for housing in 2017 revolves around this very diversity — increasingly localized housing market sub-climates with varied performance across the nation and within individual regions. Virtually all major metro areas have reported some level of price growth over the last year, but the degree of performance has differed widely between individual markets. This theme will continue over the next year as markets that greatly outperformed the national average in 2016, primarily in the West and South, will likely follow a similar path of relatively high growth over the next year. Becketti: Homebuyer affordability challenges (combination of higher mortgage rates and higher home prices)
will be the biggest single challenge facing housing markets in 2017. For the past two years interest rates have trended down, helping to boost homebuyer affordability. While we don’t forecast interest rates to rise rapidly, we do expect them to gradually drift higher most of next year. We also expect that house prices will rise, but at a more moderate pace than this year. Weiss: The most important trends in housing this coming year will be the pervasive effects of rising interest rates. We have been living in a flat or declining interest rate environment for so long, it’s hard to remember what rising interest rates are like. Many people in the mortgage industry have never experienced a rising interest rate environment in their entire careers.
HOMEOWNERSHIP RATE (1965 - 2016) 69.2
70
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
62.9
61
60
59
ATTOM Data Solutions • P5
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