Real Estate Experts Anticipate Foreclosures Will Play Only a Small Part in Increased Housing Availability

Zillow Group Inc., the Seattle-based online real estate marketplace company, reported that real estate experts responding to their latest Zillow® Home Price Expectation Survey expect that desperately needed housing inventory is on the rise and expected to come primarily from sales by existing homeowners, among a host of other sources — the smallest of which is foreclosures. The survey respondents further predict that the housing is expected to stay stable as homeowners exit forbearance programs, while rents and vacancies are not expected to rise dramatically following the end of the federal eviction moratorium.

The panel expects home foreclosures to make up the smallest source of available inventory at 5.4%. Additional supply is expected to come onto the market over the next few months as homeowners exit forbearance and some sell their homes, according to previous Zillow research. The federal foreclosure moratorium ended on July 31, and roughly 850,000 borrowers are expected to exit forbearance programs before November 2021.

In a statement prepared for the release of the survey, Nicole Bachaud, economic data analyst at Zillow said, “Now with more confidence in their long-term housing decisions, we are seeing existing homeowners finally returning to the market as sellers, who will provide the largest chunk of for-sale inventory in the next year. This is welcome news for many potential buyers, who should see more options to help their home search. Along with the expected moderation of price appreciation in coming months, the market is beginning to shift toward a balance between buyers and sellers — although that middle ground is still a far ways off.”

Panelists believe the largest single source of available housing inventory will be existing homeowners buying and moving to a different home, comprising 39.7% of supply over the next year.