More than 100 economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists predict home values will rise an average 6.7 percent year over year in 2013, according to Zillow’s latest home price expectations survey conducted by Pulsenomics.
Survey panelists said they expected median U.S. home values to rise to $167,490 by the end the year, up from $156,900 at the end of 2012 and $161,100 currently. On average, panelists projected U.S. home values could near record highs by the end of 2017, coming close to the previous peak of $194,600 in May 2007. Nonetheless, panelists anticipate appreciation rates to slow to about 4.4 percent in 2014, 3.6 percent in 2015, 3.5 percent in 2016, and 3.4 percent in 2017 for a cumulative 23.7 percent rise through 2017.
The vast majority of panelists, 88 percent, said rising mortgage rates did not represent a significant threat to the ongoing housing recovery. Most opined that the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would have to jump to at least 6 percent to be a significant threat.
Source: Pulsenomics
