For two years now, historically-low mortgage rates coupled with low inventory have created a housing market that's red hot for sellers.
As for whether the housing market will continue to rise or fall this year, a panel of economists and housing experts are split down the middle.
41% of participants in the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations survey said sales will grow, 41% predict a slowdown and 18% believe sales will remain roughly the same.
Mark Johnson, the president of J-PAR Real Estate, lands on the side of believing sales will continue to rise.
"According to the National Association of Realtors, there will be about 6.3 million homes sold this year. That’s gonna be another record and so, they’re gonna sell, but they're selling in a very supply-constrained market,” Johnson said.
Experts say that a constrained market will likely continue to push prices up as the demand outpaces the supply. However, the increase in prices may be less dramatic than it was in 2021.
Historically high home prices, combined with low inventory have led to a housing market that is unbalanced. Real estate analysts say the only solution is for more sellers to be willing to sell their homes or more homes to be built.
"I don’t see any big relief coming unless we get more builders building new homes faster,” Johnson said.
And even when that relief comes, Johnson thinks prices will stabilize but are not likely to drop.
"Prices have steadily increased over the years and while each market has ups and downs, the long term trend is up,” Johnson said.