Many potential homebuyers hope homes will get less expensive this year — and their wishes might come true.
Zillow predicts home prices will fall in 34 of the 50 largest US cities from November 2023 to November 2024. The forecast is based on Zillow's Home Value Index, which Zillow says represents the "typical home value for a region."
Home prices fall for a variety of reasons. While there is a low supply on the market due to factors like interest rates, the main issue in the US is a lack of demand — or willing buyers. This is starting to push prices down as sellers lower their asking prices to offload their homes.
Relatively high mortgage rates have sidelined people who don't have enough money to buy — as well as those who just don't want to spend the higher amounts required to purchase a home these days. For their part, homeowners who might ordinarily list their homes for sale are reluctant to do so — because they'd then have to find new ones, becoming buyers in a tough environment with high prices and higher rates.
Experts are split on housing-market forecasts for 2024Top firms have weighed in with various other predictions for the housing market in 2024.
Zillow forecasts that home prices nationwide will on average stay level. Fannie Mae expects home prices to rise by the end of the year.
Fannie Mae also predicts that mortgage rates will fall to 6.7% in 2024, and even lower to 6.2% in 2025. The lower rates — which are still relatively high compared to sub-3% rates borrowers got in and around 2020 — may encourage more buyers to make offers. However, LendingTree predicts that because home prices will still remain relatively high, sales will be sluggish.
People from regular homebuyers to big investors track home prices with great interest. Read on for the 34 US cities Zillow said are likely to see home-value declines in 2024, listed in order from least to most.