A new Reuters poll of property market analysts found that home prices are expected to rise a cumulative 10 percent over the next two years.
This rise will continue to be driven by a scarcity of new homes, low interest rates and steadily-increasing demand. This poll coincides with the recent data releases that report U.S. home resales and starts fell in July to their lowest levels in nearly a year.
At the same time, however, over three-quarters of the same polled experts believe that the homeownership rate, or the total number of homes owned by their occupants, will rise over the same period. The rate hit a 40-year low of 62.9 percent last year, but has since crept up to 63.7 percent.