The housing market hasn’t been easy on home buyers the past few years. Even before the pandemic, the inventory of homes for sale was lower than normal and pushing home prices higher. The coronavirus’ onset made those issues even more pronounced. But despite the challenging environment, home buyers have remained active. Demand for homes has been elevated the past two years regardless of buying conditions or world events. More often than not, industry experts pointed to low mortgage rates as the reason for this. Rates were lower than normal and motivating buyers to get into the market despite obvious challenges. So now that mortgage rates have begun rising, should we expect that buyers will retreat? Not exactly, according to one new report. While mortgage rates are higher than they’ve been in a while, home buyers are expected to remain active this year. In fact, the report forecasts little change in total home sales from 2021. That means, buyers should still be prepared for a competitive market, regardless of rates and prices. (source)
