Housing Market Shifting to Favor Buyers Next Year

There’s no doubt that the housing market currently favors sellers , with low inventory driving competition, and pushing prices higher and higher throughout much of the country. But a survey of industry experts released by Zillow predicts that the market will change by 2019 to favor by buyers. 

More than 100 housing experts participated in the Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, with the majority indicating that they believe the housing market will shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market some time in 2018 or 2019. 

Home Prices Expected to Begin Leveling Off this Fall 
Home prices, which have been on the rise for 4 years now, were expected to slow to 3% appreciation by October of 2018, and that is already happening, according to Zillow, which will be a sure sign that the market is shifting. 

“The housing market has been favoring sellers for the past few years,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell in a press release. “Sellers in the current housing landscape often have the luxury of listing their home ‘as-is’ without fixing it up or with only minimal window-dressing since demand for homes has been high and inventory low.” 

“It’s common for sellers to receive multiple bids, and in the hottest markets, sell for over asking price, but these conditions will change in the future,” she said. “As the number of homes for sale increases and home value appreciation slows, we expect the market to meaningfully swing in favor of buyers within the next two to three years. 

However, the report did indicate that the chances of prices dropping in some states was much higher than this average. Alaska topped the list with a 39% likelihood of home price declines in the next two years; followed by North Dakota with a 33% chance; Wyoming, 31%; West Virginia, 26%; Oklahoma, 16%; Louisiana, 15%; New Mexico, 11%; and Mississippi, 10%. 

The risk for price reductions in the top 50 metros by population was about 33% over the next 2 years. The two metros with the highest risk at 35% were Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.