Will 2023 Be a Better Year for Buyers?

“According to many industry experts, 2023’s outlook for home buyers is the best it’s been for three years.

This means that, even if property prices don’t fall across the board, few buyers will be faced with the stress of a bidding war. Also, seller contingencies are back, so buyers won’t have to accept a home “as is”. Prices may improve for new construction, too. This is because builders may attempt to recoup lost sales from 2022, when rising interest rates resulted in a surge of purchase contract cancellations.

While mortgage interest rates are predicted to decline during 2023, reviving some buyers’ hopes for a return to affordability, nobody can predict this with any certainty. While Fannie Mae is predicting rates to fall to 6.1% to 6.5% by the end of the year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) forecasts a drop to 5.2%. However, both forecasters were off the mark last year, and future rate adjustments by the Federal Reserve could affect these numbers.

Home price forecasts are similar. While some industry experts expect a rise in prices because of increased demand, others predict price drops of 20% and more.

With these predictions in mind, industry gurus agree that attempting to “time the market” is generally a mistake as home values will most certainly be higher in 10 years and onward.”