Several housing market experts, including the National Association of Realtors’ Lawrence Yun, Zillow’s Stan Humphries, and the National Association of Home Builders’ David Crowe, recently spoke at a forum hosted by the National Association of Real Estate Editors. They forecast continuing improvement for the nation’s real estate markets, though they expect that improvement to be gradual. Among their predictions, Yun said some markets may experience a 10 percent rise in home prices and he expects distressed sales to drop by 25 percent this year. The NAHB calls for a nearly 20 percent increase in housing starts and Humphries says rising rents will ultimately lead consumers back to the housing market as homeownership becomes attractive to Americans once again. More here and here.
