Windermere’s Chief Economist is the renowned Matthew Gardner. He put together his annual forecast of the real estate market for 2018 and we are summarizing what he sees in his crystal ball for the future of our market this year.

The Main Takeaways from Matthew Gardner’s 2018 Housing Forecast:

  • The number of millennial home buyers will expand and they will be big influencers in the market
  • Interest rates will rise modestly to an average of 4.4%
  • New home sales will rise by 8%
  • Existing home sales will increase by 3.7% and this modest increase will take some heat off of the market meaning home prices will rise by 4.4%
  • We are not in a housing bubble but he is concerned about affordability as it relates to the long-term health of the housing market but he thinks that price growth will begin to taper and provide some relief

Much of Mr. Gardner’s numbers in his annual forecast are based on regional and national numbers, so I do predict that Seattle will see slightly higher price growth and less new home sales than these national numbers.

Matthew Gardner 2018 Forecast