As the world is watching the chicks learn to fly on the eagle cam, in the human world there are more “For Sale” signs. You know that problem we’ve had with inventory for years? Although all real estate is local, perhaps the inventory issue is over: U.S. home sellers are sitting on nearly $700 billion worth of listings, an all-time high. In addition, the U.S. housing market has nearly 500,000 more sellers than buyers, the most on record. You can guess the impact on home prices if it plays out. Keeping on with stats, the NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said existing home sales will increase by 6% in 2025 and by 11% in 2026 during the “Residential Economic Issues & Trends Forum” at the NAR 2025 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings. Yun forecasted that new-home sales will rise by 10% in 2025 and by 5% in 2026, the median home price will climb by 3% in 2025 and by 4% in 2026 and that mortgage rates will average 6.4% in the second half of 2025 and 6.1% in 2026. “The housing market remains very difficult at the moment… Part of the delay in recovery is because the Federal Reserve has changed its outlook and appears to be on pause for a longer period.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by CreditXpert, the credit optimization platform that helps today’s top mortgage originators and more than 60,000 mortgage professionals qualify more applicants, make more competitive offers, reduce LLPA premiums, and close more loans. Hear an interview with Partners Credit’s Tracey King on the evolving conversation around credit costs, what lenders should understand about FICO’s role, and how early credit data signals provide a valuable lens into future market activity.)