Home buying in 2016 will remain challenging for many borrowers. But the market should look closer to normal, as more homeowners who had been stuck underwater reach the surface and more first-time buyers find their financial footing.
Here are some predictions.
HOME PRICE APPRECIATION WILL SLOW. Industry experts expect home prices to continue to rise in 2016, but at a slower pace, somewhere between 3 percent and 4.5 percent nationally. In the expensive coastal markets, like New York and San Francisco, prices had been rising much more quickly, but that trend is not sustainable, said Ralph McLaughlin, a housing economist for the real estate website Trulia.
“We are approaching a critical threshold on the costly coasts where the median household would have to spend 40 percent or more on the median-priced house,” he said. “That’s a signal that households will not rush to buy homes because affordability is pushing down on their ability to do so.”
But Mr. McLaughlin predicted that sales would likely pick up in more affordable metropolitan areas that are also experiencing job growth, such as San Antonio and Austin, Tex.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Baton Rouge, La.
Read full here: Home buying
