What Are Experts Saying About the Spring Housing Market?

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If youre planning to move soon, you might be wondering if therell be more homes to choose from, wherepricesandmortgage ratesare headed, and how to navigate todays market. If so, heres what the professionals are saying about whats in store for this season.

Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist,First American:

. . .it seems our general expectation for the spring is that we will see a pickup in inventory.In fact, that already seems to be happening. But it wont necessarily be enough to satiate demand.

Lisa Sturtevant, Chief Economist,Bright MLS:

There is still strong demand, as the large millennial population remains in the prime first-time homebuying range.

Danielle Hale, Chief Economist,Realtor.com:

Where we are right now is the best of both worlds.Price increases are slowing, which is good for buyers, and prices are still relatively high, which is good for sellers.

Skylar Olsen, Chief Economist,Zillow:

There are slightly more homes for sale than this time last year, and there is still plenty of competition for well-priced houses.Buyers should prep their credit scores and sellers should prep their properties now, attractive listings are going pending in less than a month, and time on market will shrink in the weeks ahead.

Jiayi Xu, Economist,Realtor.com:

While mortgage rates remain elevated,home shoppers who are looking to buy this spring could find more affordable homes on the market than they saw at the same time last year. Specifically, there were 20.6% more homes available for sale ranging between $200,000 and $350,000 in February 2024 than a year ago, surpassing growth in other price ranges.

If yourelooking to sell, thisspringmight be yoursweet spotbecause there just arent many homes on the market. Sure, inventory is rising, but its nowhere near enough to meet todays buyer demand. Thats why theyre still selling so quickly.

If yourelooking to buy, the growing number of homes for sale this spring means youll have more choices than this time last year. Butbe preparedtomove quicklysince therell be plenty ofcompetitionwith other buyers.