The spring season is notoriously one of the busiest times of the year for the housing market, but after a lukewarm start to spring home sales, experts are split on where the market is headed next. Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, expects continued softness in western markets where prices are already declining, MarketWatch reports.
On the contrary, Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale says prices could actually rise in May on a month-to-month basis. Either way, experts agree that while the housing market isn’t about to crash, it’s also not headed for a fast-paced ascent in the second half of 2023.
“Even though the market is unlikely to crash, people shouldn’t expect it to take off either. In other words, if they haven’t already, people should get used to a slow and expensive housing market,” says Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree. When the housing market slows, demand for homes falls and sellers get fewer offers.