Should You Buy a Home Before 2024?

In 2022, housing inventory dropped to its lowest since 1999, causing many homebuyers to become discouraged by rapidly rising prices and too much competition. By mid-year 2022, home prices began to moderate on rising mortgage interest rates. As the Federal Reserve continued to battle runaway inflation, homebuyers pulled back slightly, but so did home sellers who declined to sell high and buy another home at a much higher price and mortgage interest rate. New home construction lags demand by the millions, exacerbating housing shortages.

So, what’s changed? With mortgage interest rates that have risen to the point that 7% is “the new normal,” the housing market is reacting in surprising ways. Despite slower sales and lower prices throughout the first half of 2023, there are currently three offers for every home on the open market, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, suggesting that homebuyers are shrugging off higher interest rates.

Housing market analyst Black Knight says that housing sales could be on the verge of a resurgence and that housing prices will move higher in certain regions. Year-over-year, home prices are down 0.1%, but the reheating of the housing market is already underway in 27 of the 50 largest markets at or above their previous home price peaks, say researchers.

Ask your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network professional to explain your local market conditions. Get prequalified for a mortgage loan so you can move quickly before home prices rise again before 2024.