After more than a year of staggering increases in home prices, the party appears to be coming to an end.
The growth in prices, which rose more than 30% this year in some of the nation’s hottest real estate markets, appears to have peaked nationally. Home prices are still increasing, but substantially less than they were just a few months ago. There are even signs that some of the hottest real estate markets in the nation are slowing, with homes taking longer to sell and undergoing more price reductions.
And while this doesn’t mean the wishes of buyers will come true and real estate will suddenly become far more affordable, real estate experts do expect price increases in coming months to be more manageable going forward in much—but not all—of the country.
“Prices and sellers reached for the moon this year. It looks like we are now about to move back to Earth,” says George Ratiu, director of economic research at Realtor.com®.
He anticipates more homes will go up for sale, helping to alleviate the severe housing shortage responsible for the unprecedented prices.
