By Lawrence Yun | Forbes
Housing data in January gave mixed signals on the direction for the year. Closing activity for existing home sales shot up to a decade-high of 5.69 million units at an annualized pace, but pending contracts fell to their lowest level in 12 months. For the whole of 2017, I expect existing home sales to reach 5.6 million, which would be a gain of 2.2% from the prior year, but below the annualized pace set in January. In short, expect sideway movements for the rest of the year.
Even though home sales will not make much gains, home prices will. With inventories still at grossly inadequate levels, there is only one direction to go for home prices. The national median price will likely rise by 4% to 5%. Do not be surprised if it goes up even higher. While the country needs around 1.6 million new housing starts, only around 1.3 million units will be constructed, based on permit information and from labor and lot shortages facing the industry.
