Just two months ago, on October 5th, the NAR prediction was for 6 million existing home sales in 2017 – they have backed it down to 5.5 million now.
Fannie, Freddie, and the MBA are predicting 6.2 million and higher, but the 5.5 million looks more realistic. We have higher prices and rates – it would be a miracle for sales to increase too.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/38761-this-is-the-big-unknown-for-housing-in-2017
This increase in interest rates remains a concern for economist who say that the incentive to buy a home decreased slightly. While it may not be enough to ward off first-time homebuyer, the rising rates combined with the rising home prices could discourage homeowners from upgrading to a larger or better home, therefore leaving little inventory for first-time buyers to move into.
If Trump is able to get business tax rates down to 15% instead of roughly 30% it might offset interest rates going up on buying houses.
What I’m watching is how the new conservative control is going to effect foreclosures. Clearing out the deadbeats would open up a world of opportunities for buyers.
Hopefully the years of bashing savers with uber low rates will soon be over!
I wonder if Trump’s plan to increase the standard deduction to $30,000 for married, filing jointly ($15,000 for singles) will cause some buyers to reconsider a home purchase to reduce taxes, since the higher standard deduction may make the mortgage interest deduction a moot point.