Housing Gets Mixed Outlook from NAR

Housing Gets Mixed Outlook from NAR

The National Association of Realtors predicts the pace of U.S. home sales will fall further this year than earlier expected, but prices will drop less sharply than previously thought. 

NAR trimmed its sales forecast for the sixth straight month but pared back its predicted drop in existing home values.

Existing-home sales should hit a pace of 6.04 million units this year, down from the 6.11 million units it predicted last month.

Prospective homeowners have faced tougher lending standards in recent months as investors have pulled funding from the once-hot mortgage finance market.

The median new-home price will probably fall 2.3 percent to $240,800 this year according to NAR’s monthly economic outlook.