Experts confident about us house prices

The site’s latest Home Price Expectations Survey shows that many expect property values to have risen 6.7 per cent by the end of 2013.

From that point on, they expect growth of house prices to slow considerably through to 2018, with an increase of 4.3 per cent forecast for 2014. This rate will gradually continue to slow to 3.4 per cent by 2018.

On the basis of those predictions, the survey’s panellists say that US house prices will exceed the peak recorded in May 2007 by the first quarter of 2018 – and may well break the $200,000 barrier by the end of that year.

The most optimistic quartile of panellists forecast a year-on-year rise of 8.3 per cent at the end of 2013. The most pessimistic, an increase of 5.6 per cent.  Expectations fell among the optimists from 9.3 per cent in the last survey but among pessimists, the rate of growth increased from 5.1 per cent.

“The housing market has seen a period of unsustainable, breakneck appreciation, and some cooling off is both welcome and expected. Rising mortgage rates, diminished investor demand and slowly rising inventory will all contribute to the slowdown of appreciation,” said Zillow chief Economist Stan Humphries.