Housing inventory is on the rise and expected to come primarily from sales by existing homeowners, among other sources, the smallest of which is foreclosures, according to the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey. The housing market is expected to remain stable as homeowners exit forbearance programs, the surveyed panel of real estate experts predict.
“Now with more confidence in their long-term housing decisions, we are seeing existing homeowners finally returning to the market as sellers, who will provide the largest chunk of for-sale inventory in the next year,” Zillow Economic Data Analyst Nicole Bachaud said in a release. “This is welcome news for many potential buyers, who should see more options to help their home search. Along with the expected moderation of price appreciation in coming months, the market is beginning to shift toward a balance between buyers and sellers, although that middle ground is still a far way off.”
Panelists believe the largest single source of available housing inventory over the next year (39.7 percent) will be existing homeowners buying and moving to a different home. They expect foreclosures to make up the smallest source of available inventory (5.4 percent).
Other expected sources of housing inventory include new construction (22.5 percent) and existing homeowners intent on renting, or not buying again (9.6 percent), according to the panel.
Experts expect home prices nationwide to increase a 31.8 percent through 2025, the equivalent of an average annual rate of 5.7 percent, according to the survey. That’s far below the current annual appreciation of about 17 percent.
“Across the U.S., home value appreciation rates and annual rent price increases are at historically high levels, and home price expectations are now the highest we've recorded in the 12-year history of this survey,” Pulsenomics founder Terry Loebs said. Pulsenomics fielded the survey. “The silver lining for aspiring homeowners is that the worst of the housing supply crunch looks to finally be behind us, and most experts believe that the past year’s rapid price boil has begun to simmer down.”