Can’t Hardly Wait

🚀 What’s happening: Between 2016 and 2019 housing wealth was the single biggest contributor to an increase in net worth across all income groups in the U.S.

Even despite the tougher market this year and sky high interest rates, over 90% of Americans say that owning a home is still part of the American Dream.

Experts weigh in.

Morgan Stanley, one of the largest investment banks in the world, just released their housing market prediction for 2024 and in their base case forecast they expect home prices to decline by 3% with new home sales to continue to outpace existing home sales.

In a upside case scenario where the economy accelerates they could see prices rise ~5% (for the record so far this year home prices are up about 2%) and in a negative scenario where the economy tanks they could see prices drop about 8%.

👪 Closer to home: It’s anyone’s guess what will actually happen to the housing market in 2024, but it’s worth at least paying attention to what the banks (like Morgan Stanley) have to say.

For our two cents, we think the next few macro economic data points (namely the November Jobs Report 12/8, CPI 12/12, and the next Fed decision 12/13) should all continue to point to cooling inflation and rates likely starting to come down next year.

As a result, if you are in the market for a home it might pay to wait (if possible) and make sure that you are prepared to act in 2024.

Further Reading: Your Home Buying Checklist