Dive Brief:
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The housing sector is likely to repeat its 2014 performance this year, The Wall Street Journal predicted.
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After failing to live up to the expectations of many in 2014, the market is on track to neither break out or slow down over the next 12 months, the newspaper said.
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The basis for its prediction: First, while the National Association of Realtors reported last week that pending home sales were up 4.1% in October over a year earlier, demand for homes remains “tepid" and price increases—while moderating compared with a year ago—continue to increase, keeping many first-time buyers out of the market.
Dive Insight:
The upshot: Gains in sales, prices, inventory, and demand have mostly been offset by dips, keeping the housing industry on a slow—but still moving—recovery. And while gains from month to month are always a good sign for the future, housing’s year-end scorecard isn’t spectacularly better or worse than the year before, indicating more of the same this year, the newspaper noted.