There’s still a lot of motivation for buyers and sellers in the market and that’s not likely to change much in the coming months. With experts projecting a rise in inventory and mortgage rates remaining relatively low, both sides in the real estate transaction stand to benefit from making a move this year. However,  the market is changing, impacted largely by rising mortgage rates. Nonetheless, there still an incentive for sellers to make a move. Waiting until next year could mean losing out on a less competitive market and better affordability–two of the biggest factors positively impacting buyers and sellers today.

Fannie Mae expects home prices to rise 10.6 percent in 2022. However, a number of industry experts are projecting a more modest appreciation of 5.1 percent this year compared to the nearly 20 percent rise on average that occurred in 2021.  Driving the continued rise in home prices is the fact that inventory remains low. Meanwhile the rising mortgage rates that have occurred over the past two months have been particularly hard on first-time buyers, notes Joel Kan of the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average rate on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.23 percent last week, up from the low 3 percent in January.