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.

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.

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.

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. 

Nationally, investors bought a record 18% of homes sold in the third quarter of this year, and they are increasingly turning to single-family homes, according to Redfin. 

The home remodeling platform Houzz has compiled their 2022 trend forecast: a list of 10 interior design predictions.

“If I had to choose only one word to describe September 2021’s housing price data, the word would be ‘deceleration. Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly.” — S&P DJI managing director Craig Lazzara.

While the housing market may be hotter than usual, the shift toward seasonal norms is starting to show and could benefit both buyers and renters. 

“Motivated by fast-rising rents and the anticipated increase in mortgage rates, consumers that are on strong financial footing are signing contracts to purchase a home sooner rather than later.” — NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun