Earlier this month, Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC, (PHM) and The Long & Foster Companies joined forces to host their third annual Housing Market Preview.

PHM CEO Tim Wilson kicked off the event in Northern Virginia, giving real estate agents and mortgage consultants a look ahead at the real estate market in 2017. Wilson was followed by a host of guest speakers, including Long & Foster Senior Vice President Karen Kidwell, PHM’s Area Sales Manager Dave Rotell, PHM’s Chief Appraiser Brian Quinlan and PHM’s National Sales Support Manager Ron Wivagg. In addition, Dr. Mark Palim, vice president and deputy chief economist from Fannie Mae, addressed the crowd as the keynote speaker.

Tight Inventory of Single Family Starter Homes

Dr. Palim spoke of the current tight supply of listings, which has created a sellers’ market in many areas. In particular, he addressed the shortage of entry-level single-family housing, which is a growing challenge now that the millennial generation’s homeownership rate is beginning to accelerate. This scenario may result in multiple contract offer situations and home price growth this year for that segment of our housing industry, Dr. Palim predicted.

Looking ahead, Dr. Palim anticipates 2017 will bring 1.235 million housing starts, 609,000 new single-family home sales and 5.538 million total existing home sales (that’s a 1.6 percent growth). He also predicts $1.057 trillion in purchase mortgage originations, an increase from 2016’s $1.014 trillion. Lastly, Dr. Palim spoke of the likelihood of another Fed rate hike, triggered by good economic data with recent employment figures. After the hike in March, he expects two more hikes this year as the Fed looks to normalize monetary policy.

Overall, Dr. Palim and the teams at PHM and Long & Foster expect a healthy market this year, and we’re looking forward to kicking off the spring season in the coming weeks.