Economists' Outlook

Independent of headline seasonally adjusted figures, expect busier activity in May and even better in June.

The median expected home price change in the next 12 months was 4.2% (4.0% in March 2017; 3.8% in April 2016).

Each month, the Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey tracks changes in consumer views regarding the housing market. With HOME being launched in the first quarter of 2016, we can now compare what consumers are thinking about trends in real estate in the last year.

Generation X, buyers ages 37 to 51 years, make up the second largest share of home buyers by generation at 28 percent of all home buyers in 2016. The median age for this group is 43 years old and they were born between 1965 and 1979.

The Silent Generation, buyers ages 71 to 91 years, make up the smallest share of home buyers by generation at only eight percent of all home buyers in 2016. The median age for this group is 75 years old and they were born between 1925 and 1945.

For over three decades, the National Association of REALTORS® has collected data on the size of homes purchased, most notably the square feet of detached single family homes, in its flagship Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report. Since 1981 the median size of homes purchased has increased rapidly in the first decade and then remained relatively similar and steady over the last 15 years.

According to Science Journal, the internet took over multichannel global communications almost instantaneously, transmitting one percent of information in 1993, 51 percent by 2000, and 97 percent by 2007. The internet’s prominence in the real estate industry has a similar progression.

REALTORS® expect prices to increase by 3.2% over the next 12 months (3.2% in October 2015; 3.0% in November 2014).

In the monthly REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, NAR asks REALTORS®“In the neighborhood or area where you make most of your sales, what are your expectations for residential property prices over the next year?” The map below shows the median...