In unveiling its predictions, the National Association of Realtors also released its top 10 housing-market “hidden gems” for 2022.

As the Seattle real estate market eases into its usual winter hiatus, high home prices and mortgage rates, low inventory and stiff competition continue to stand in the way of seasoned homeowners and first-time home buyers.

“While 2021 single-family starts are expected to end the year 24% higher than the pre-Covid 2019 level, we expect higher interest rates in 2022 will put a damper on housing affordability.” — NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz

Millennials are at the greatest risk of becoming house-rich and cash-poor as the generation is spending the highest percentage of their monthly income on homeownership costs compared to other generations, according to a new Hometap report.

Despite those challenges, there are signs the market continues to shift toward more seasonable norms.

While the real estate market is finally showing signs of cooling after a year of skyrocketing home prices and bidding wars, desirable metros across the U.S., including in Florida, Washington and Massachusetts, can expect a big year in 2022.

For the past 100 years, the suburbs of King County have grown at a faster rate than the city of Seattle. However, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the suburbs’ long run is officially over — at least for now. 

According to a new survey, More than 40% of employed Americans are willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary to move to a more affordable location.

While buyer preferences for more space — both inside and outside the home — remain and supply chain issues continue to stifle home construction efforts, other factors, such as the potential increase in interest rates, are expected to change the game in 2022.

The decline in mortgage rates prompted an uptick in refinancing, with government refinances increasing more than 20% over the week, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting Joel Kan said in a press release.

While real estate markets across the country slowed down in November around Thanksgiving, such was not the case for Washington, where buyers and sellers were unusually active. Based on the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS), numbers for new listings, pending sales and closed sales were comparable to year-ago totals, while prices rose just over 15%.

With home prices continuing to reach new heights  across the country, many potential homebuyers are seeing the mobile-home market in a brand new light as single-family home prices become less affordable for young and middle-class buyers. 

As more money is being spent on real estate than ever before, the booming market is on pace to shatter records this year, according to a recent CoreLogic report.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced its 2022 conforming loan limits (CLL) for conventional loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Despite higher mortgage rates, purchase applications had a strong week, mostly driven by a 6% increase in conventional loan applications.” — MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting Joel Kan

Prices of Seattle waterfront homes are steadily rising, particularly in King County, where waterfront property has been historically expensive.