What to Expect in 2024

As interest rates decline, builders are gearing up for a new year. We want to share what some experts anticipate happening in 2024.

According to Zonda Economics, the market saw a 22.1% increase in total new home sales year-over-year, a 3.9% increase in supply, and a 0.3% decrease in the “typical home price.”

And now, the slow but steady fall in rates is bringing homebuyers back to the market and growing builders’ confidence. For example, newly built single-family homes in the market climbed 7 points to 44 the first week in January, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

“We’re heading toward a housing renaissance,” Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Live. 

“2024 is shaping up to be that pivot year where we leave the doldrums of the post-COVID slowdown, and we really pivot into the next five or six years in the housing market where we’re going to see some great growth. We’re going to see homebuilders meet that pent-up demand for single-family and multifamily housing,” Tobin added.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey notes mortgage applications are also on the rise, as total mortgage applications increased by 10.4% in January. 

Though the signs are positive, many anticipate some hurdles in 2024. 

“As home building expands in 2024, the market will see growing supply-side challenges in the form of higher prices and/or shortages of lumber, lots, and labor,” Robert Dietz, NAHB chief economist, predicts.

Many analysts expect the 2024 housing market to be a more balanced playing field, rather than either last year’s slowdown or the frenetic pace that preceded it.