Real estate agents make predictions on 2022 housing market

These past two years have been a wild ride for real estate professionals and folks who sold their houses made out like bandits! The question you may have on your mind is whether this market will continue to thrive and favor sellers, or will it finally cool and give buyers the upper hand?

While we can’t say for sure what the future holds for the housing market, we can glean insight from top-rated realtors in HomeLight’s End of the Year Report for 2021. Here are their predictions regarding the future of America’s housing market.

Buyers are including contingencies again

Over the past year and half, real estate agents had many clients who submitted offers that were completely free of contingencies. Buyers were willing to do (and pay) anything to get their offers accepted. In submitting offers without any contingencies, buyers could find themselves stuck paying tens or hundreds of thousands more than a house was worth. They could be stuck with a house that had extensive wood rot or a termite problem. They could be stuck with two mortgages because they couldn’t sell their house before closing on the new one.

Well, realtors in Wakefield, Pennsylvania are reporting buyers are putting contingencies back into their offers because they realize what’s at stake and they don’t want to be taken advantage of.

Buyers won’t be eager to go into bidding wars anymore

It was quite common for a property to enter a bidding war in the past 18 months, but 76% of agents are predicting that will be a thing of the past. Agents report that as more houses enter the market, sellers can expect fewer offers. For the seller, that means they may not be able to hold out for an offer they can’t refuse and may have to accept whatever comes their way.

More houses will (slowly) come onto the market

Inventory is still unable to meet demand, but real estate agents predict that as people feel more confident that the public health crisis is under control, folks will be putting their houses on the market. On the other hand, real estate agents are concerned that there may be a surge of foreclosed houses on the market once the full effects of the revocation of the foreclosure moratorium take hold.

Buyers can expect housing prices to decline

Housing prices have been really high throughout the past two years, but 50% of agents are saying that prices will be on the decline in 2022. If you want to buy a house, keep an eye on housing prices because you could save yourself tens of thousands of dollars!

Buyers tap into multiple sources for a down payment
There’s a multitude of ways someone could drum up money for a down payment on a house, but 46% of real estate agents say buyers are likely to tap into whatever savings they set aside as a result of pandemic-related frugalness. On the other hand, 45% of agents say buyers who have a wealthy family member will turn to them for help and 37% predict that buyers will cash in their stock gains to come up with a good down payment.
What will 2022’s housing market look like?

Wouldn’t it be nice to gaze into a crystal ball and know exactly what lies ahead? We could make decisions at the perfect moment and come out on top. We’d know when to make a move and when we should just wait. Life would be so much easier! Sadly, we don’t have a crystal ball and we can only rely on real estate market trends and insights from top-rated real estate agents.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s true that the future isn’t set in stone. But, it is a little comforting to know there are experts out there who are keeping their eyes peeled and can have a good idea of what’s to come in the local housing market.