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New year, new housing market? Not exactly, but with mortgage rates expected to fall, homebuyers should have an easier time in 2024 than they had last year. Mortgage rates aren't going to plummet back to pandemic-era record lows. The more likely scenario is a gradual decline of a percentage or more over the year as markets wait for inflation to improve and for the Federal Reserve to make its first interest rate cut. Limited inventory and growing demand for homes could continue to push prices up, however, unless there's a significant boost in the new construction of single-family homes. "Substantially more units are needed to meet the demand, especially as new buyers — who were previously priced out due to the rise in mortgage interest rates — come into the market," said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist at the National Association of Realtors®.