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It wasn’t what was expected this time last year, but much of the talk in housing this year has been about falling mortgage rates and their impact on the mortgage market.
Beyond that, there’s been a lot of talk this year about iBuyers and what they will do to the housing ecosystem in the future.
To get a feel for what’s coming next, HousingWire sat down this week with Morty Co-Founder & CTO Adam Rothblatt to discuss iBuyers, what will happen with mortgage rates, and more about what’s coming in 2020.
While some say supply and demand will become healthy and regular in 2020, Rothblatt told HousingWire that iBuying has made more of a disruptive and exciting impact within the industry.
“I think [iBuying] is certainly dominating the conversation. I don’t see it becoming the preeminent way that homes are bought and sold anytime soon. But it will definitely be on the rise in 2020,” Rothblatt said.
Rothblatt said the consumers can bet on mortgage rates remaining low, and 2020 will look a lot like 2019 with modest growth. That includes rising home prices and low inventory.
The mortgage industry should also expect to see refinance volumes continue to be high in 2020, considering the current mortgage rates trends, Rothblatt said.
“Whatever the reason might be there, there are a huge number of homebuyers were refinancing still makes sense,” Rothblatt said. “And I would expect to see refinance volumes continue to be high in 2020, assuming that interest rates remain where they are.”
Rothblatt is one of the few who says there probably won’t be a recession in 2020. He thinks there are more structural issues such as rising national debt that is creating the recession fear.
Beyond that, Rothblatt thinks the housing market’s shifting demographics will continue to impact the market.
Rothblatt also said Millennials are going to continue to wait to buy a home, and will have higher standards for their homes, such as location and quality.
And Rothblatt thinks Generation Z will most likely behave the same.
“Many of [the homes] are jumbos far as the mortgages they’re seeking to, have. In high priced markets they’re young, they’re upwards of a million dollars,” Rothblatt said. “That’s very different from the first time homebuyer profile, 10 years ago.”
