How is the spring housing market shaping up?

Mortgage applications were down 1.6% from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 15.https://t.co/vS7wK8QQyz#mortgageindustry #mortgageapplication #interestrates #ratehike

— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) March 20, 2024

“We have a surplus of buyers – but drive two hours north, in one of my other markets, we have not enough buyers. The houses are sitting 30 to 40 days in the same price range.”

Another of the regions serviced by the company, Arizona, is marked by a surplus of houses, according to Carter. “We have a lot more houses on the market, and we need to just find buyers for those houses – and the prices are starting to drop a little bit on those because of the surplus,” she said.

What regions are expected to see the biggest price growth?

 Real estate marketplace company Zillow expects existing home sales to hit 4.06 million this year, a revised figure below its prior forecast and also under the 2023 total.

Home values are forecast to remain steady or tick up slightly in many parts of the country, although San Jose and San Francisco are both expected to see price declines (3.0% and 2.6% year over year, respectively) along with New Orleans (4.6%), Baton Rouge (2.4%), Jackson (1.4%), Minneapolis (1.6%), and Baltimore (1.1%).

Markets such as Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, Denver, San Antonio, Houston, Little Rock, Louisville, Baltimore, Bridgeport, and Pittsburgh are all slated for a milder slide in home prices.