Home Prices Expected to Hit a Coronavirus Speed Bump in 2020

Diana Olick reports: 

Home prices have only fallen nationally once since the Great Depression, and that was following the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession. Now, barely eight years after hitting bottom, and after a mighty recovery, prices are predicted to fall nationally again, down 2-3% this year, according to Zillow. 

The report also predicts a sizable decline in home sales, of 50-60%. Sill, the report also predicts that, unlike before the Great Recession, the strong fundamentals in the market leading up to the current economic crisis should allow for a steady recovery. Svenja Gudell, Zillow's chief economist, is quoted as saying: "Despite the difficulties, we're seeing several signs that there is still a good amount of demand for housing, and buyers, sellers and agents are growing more comfortable moving transactions forward where possible."

More comparison between the current crisis and the Great Recession are offered in the source article.

A separate article by Steve Brown shares news of a recent report by CoreLogic, which predicts a slowdown in housing price appreciation, but not a decline, over the course of the year. "In January, CoreLogic was predicting a more than 5% gain for nationwide home prices this year.," according to Brown. "Now CoreLogic researchers are forecasting that home prices across the country will be up by only 0.5% a year from now thanks to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."