Housing pros forecast stable housing market conditions

by Tracey Velt

Across the board, mortgage and real estate respondents to the HousingWire Pulse Q1 2025 survey say the housing market will be flat for the first three months of 2025. The majority chose “flat” when asked the direction of home sales and home prices. The good news? HousingWire experts are forecasting a more positive outlook for this year’s housing market in their recent 2025 Housing Market Forecast: The Path to Recovery.

Respondents were a bit more positive about Q4 2024, which was collected before mortgage rates rose to 7%.

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The HousingWire Pulse Survey for Q1 2025 provides valuable insights into the current state of the real estate market from various perspectives: brokerage leaders, mortgage professionals, and real estate agents. This diversity allows for a comprehensive understanding of the market dynamics.

In addition to the neutral stance on home prices and home sales this quarter, all three audiences unanimously responded that both mortgage rates and their enthusiasm for the market is also “meh.”

Challenges (almost) remain the same

While housing market sentiment may be flat, the challenges for real estate and mortgage professionals stayed same as last quarter, with the exception of real estate agents, who for the first time since this survey was administered, are chiefly concerned with getting paid.

Here is a rundown:

Real estate brokers top 5 challenges

Increasing per-agent production
Reducing operational expenses
Pressure on net/gross margins
Training agents on new business practices
Interest rates

Mortgage professionals top 5 challenges

Interest rates
Lead generation
Home prices
Lack of housing inventory
Loans falling through

Real estate agent top 5 challenges

Getting paid post-settlement
Business planning
Connecting with sphere
Low inventory
Getting listings

Looking ahead, it is essential for industry leaders to foster collaboration, share best practices, and adapt to the shifting market dynamics, particularly in the new post-NAR settlement real estate market.

HousingWire Pulse is a quarterly, forward-looking housing market and industry trend survey that focuses on the real estate and mortgage industries. The Q1 2025 survey had 319 respondents, 48% in the real estate industry and 52% in the mortgage industry.