Housing prices will continue to decline slightly through 2012 but will begin to rebound in 2013, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Respondents predicted that the median estimates for six house-price indices would decline between 0.1% and 0.5% in 2012. Eleven respondents predicted that the U.S. national S&P/Case-Shiller index would decline 0.3% in 2012 and then increase 1.5% in 2013. Six experts estimated that the U.S. FHFA index in 2012 would decline 0.1% while it would grow 2% the following year.
The Federal Reserve asked 24 forecasters about housing prices, allowing respondents to provide predictions for the indices of their choosing.
Those surveyed also predicted that real GDP will grow at an annual rate 2.2% this quarter. They reported that the unemployment rate would average 8.3% in 2012 before falling to 7.9% in 2013. Respondents predicted that the economy would add 160,100 jobs per month this quarter and 141,900 per month during the second quarter.
Overall the Federal Reserve surveyed 45 economic and financial experts for the first quarter Survey of Professional Forecasters, a quarterly report on macroeconomic predictions in the U.S., released on Friday.
