Their findings indicate “the national housing recovery will continue to be gradual and slow without any significant changes in markets.”
Veros predicts up to four percent appreciation in the strongest markets, including Fargo and Bismark, North Dakota; the Washington, D.C. area; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Anchorage, Alaska.
Veros projects the five weakest markets—which include areas of California, Nevada and Florida—to depreciate five to six percent over the next year.
While this is welcome news for the country’s strongest markets, the reality is, 1 in 5 homeowners are underwater on their mortgage. For many of them, the recovery isn’t coming quickly enough. Housing prices remain 33% below 2006 levels, so even at four percent appreciation, millions of homeowners remain in serious peril.
