I continue to see encouraging news about the housing market and today was no exception. The Freddie Mac housing market outlook for December was released and included a very encouraging outlook for the real estate market in 2013 by its chief economist, Frank Nothaft. Not that I’m on the same level as Northaft, but I will be coming out later this month with a short market recap video for 2012 as well as an outlook for 2013, both specifically for the St Louis real estate market. In the meantime, below are the highlights from Mr Nothaft’s projections for the U.S. real estate market for 2013.
- Interest rates, which are at a 65-year low, are expected to stay near record lows during the first six months of 2013 and then rise toward the end of 2013 but still remain below 4 percent.
- Home prices are expected to rise 2.5 percent – 3.0 percent in 2013 but, as usual, will vary significantly by location.
- Household formation will be on the rise and should generate about 1.25 million net new households outpacing new home construction and thereby increasing overall demand.
- Vacancy rates will fall back to levels not seen in about a decade for both for-sale homes as well as apartments as a result of household formation outpacing new home construction in 2013.
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