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This month the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced its outlook for the 2012 mortgage and housing markets. While the MBA’s 2012 forecast is varied, there are three positive elements worth noting:
The MBA predicts that total existing home sales will remain at the current 4.9 million unit pace through 2012. However, the MBA expects that home sales will experience a slight increase (to 5.9 million units) as the general economy grows stronger. The MBA’s official statement: “The recovery in the new home sales will have a comparably slow start, but will show some meaningful increases in 2013.”
The MBA also expects a small growth in the number of mortgages for home purchases, despite an expected decrease in refinances. The MBA forecasted that home loans for purchases will increase to $412 billion in 2012 (vs. $400 billion in 2011). Even more encouraging: the MBA anticipates home loans for purchases to leap considerably to $700 billion in 2013.
Fixed home loan rates are predicted to remain low, with the possibility of 2011’s 4.5 percent average dropping to 4.4 percent in 2012. The caveat? The MBA anticipates that rates will increase to around 4.9 percent by 2013.