Predictions for Home Prices & Mortgage Rates

Here is a list of various predictions for 2020 from various sources-

• CoreLogic is predicting home prices will increase by 5.4% from October 2019 till October 2020.
• NAR is predicting that U.S. home prices will rise 3.6% this year.
• Freddie Mac is estimating that interest rates will average 3.6% this year.
• Fannie Mae is predicting that rates will average 3.9% in 2020.
• Realtor.com is predicting that rates will average 3.85% in 2020.
• Realtor.com is predicting that existing home sales will drop by 1.8% in 2020 to 5.23 million. Why? Not enough homes for sale as they expect inventory to "evaporate" in 2020. They are predicting that home prices will rise just 0.8% nationwide this year.
• Redfin is predicting more Bidding Wars this year. Why? Low mortgage rates will increase demand and inventories will drop as people remain in their homes longer.
• Redfin is predicting that home prices will increase 3% nationwide in 2020. 

Here are some predictions for Denver's real estate market from national "experts"-

• Zillow predicts that our home prices will increase by 1.4% in 2020.
• CoreLogic is predicting home prices increase will increase by 4% this year.

One of my favorite economic and mortgage experts is Barry Habib and here are a few of his predictions for the decade-

• Technology will continue to drive low inflation rates which helps lead to low interest rates on mortgages.
• The largest short-term baby boom occurred from 1987-1991. Why is this important? The median age of first-time homebuyers is 33. Those born in 1987 will be turning 33 this year. Thus, we should see millions of first-time homebuyers the next few years.
• With this strong demand for housing, what do you think will happen to home prices? They will continue to rise and probably rise substantially.
• Medical advances like a possible cure for cancer and gene switching could cause us to live on average an extra 10 years or more Barry says. What this does have to do with housing? We will remain in our homes even longer in what is known as Aging in Place. Thus, Aging in Place will grow in popularity. Currently, people are remaining in their homes nearly 10 years longer than they did just 20 years ago. This is one BIG reason why we don't have enough housing. If this trend continues and even intensifies this greater demand for housing will cause home prices to escalate. Especially when you combine this with the demographic Baby Boom I just told you about.

Thus, we probably need at a minimum of 20-25 million new homes and apartments to be built this decade and I know we didn't even build 15 million new housing units in the teens. If housing supply doesn't increase dramatically then home prices and rents WILL SOAR! This plus we may live longer is yet another reason why you need to own investment real estate.