The real estate site has raised its outlook for housing prices this year, predicting a more robust marketplace.
As one of the more popular websites for the U.S. residential real estate market, Zillow has its fingers on the pulse of housing price trends, so its just released upgrade of its forecast for this year is good news for the market.
Zillow now says that it is predicting that U.S. home prices will rise 3.5% by December 2024. That’s up from its earlier forecasts and if it holds true, it would mean that national home prices in 2024 would be almost the same as they were last year when prices rose 3.2%.
The company sees this pricing trend holding true for virtually the entire country, with the exception of two areas: San Francisco and several housing markets in Louisiana.
The change in forecasting is tied almost entirely to mortgage rates. When Zillow’s more bearish prediction last fall was made, rates for 30-year fixed mortgages were topping 7.5%. Now most rates have dropped down below 7%. A more robust housing market this year is good news for builders, contractors… and of course, suppliers of the key material used for houses: wood.
