The housing market may be slowing down as 2018 winds down, but housing experts say that 2019 will bring more of the same market conditions, rather than a greater shift in buyers' favor.
While inventory may be growing, and even in the hot and competitive West Coast markets, it is still relatively constrained, and affordability continues to tighten. Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale says, “I would still rather be a seller than a buyer next year ... You’re still likely to walk away with a decent profit in 2019 if you sell." Meanwhile, Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at real estate data firm Attom Data Solutions, points out to MarketWatch, “What’s driving the slowdown in price appreciation and the rise in inventory is not so much that inventory is being created, but that demand is decreasing. This is an extremely mortgage-rate sensitive housing market.”
As of Nov. 21, the interest rate on a 30-year mortgage was 4.81 percent, which is 89 basis points higher than a year ago. But by this time next year, experts predict it will be even higher. Realtor.com estimated that the rate for a 30-year mortgage will reach 5.50 percent by the end of 2019. Mortgage liquidity provider Fannie Mae was more moderate, predicting that rates will only increase to 5 percent by then.