Buying a House in 2025 Will Be Wacky — Here Are 3 Golden Rules
If you’ve been waiting for interest rates or housing prices to come down before buying a house, 2025 might not bring a ton of relief. In fact, experts say the housing market this year could be even wilder and wackier than it was in 2024.
To help you navigate the 2025 housing market, I asked five real estate agents for their best advice and observations for how to dive into it. They had three pieces of sage advice.
Hire the right person — and trust them.
Several real estate agents I spoke to basically said the same thing: Find the most experienced agent, and then heed their advice. Established agents and Realtors gain great reputations by doing a great job over and over again for their clients, who put in the good word to their families and friends.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re buying or selling; find that person,” says Robin Curtis, a licensed associate real estate broker of HUNT Real Estate ERA. “This person is not necessarily the top-producing agent or the flashiest agent or the agent on the billboard. This is the person you can trust and has well-established relationships in the industry.”
Curtis reveals a rule for how to decide if an agent has the experience you need. First, “they can easily name three recent clients to whom you can refer,” and second, “they have glowing feedback online … all real estate challenges can be confronted with the experience of a good professional.”
Vanessa Krumholtz, a sales associate at Prominent Properties, Sotheby’s International Realty, agrees. In a challenging market, if you find the property of your dreams, you should lean on the pro helping you out with your deal.
“This is key,” she says. “They have done this many times; trust their experience and take their advice. They will have great advice on how to secure your dream home.”
That experience and advice can include helping a client find the most suitable home in the right price range, and in the best condition that price range can accommodate. Realtors routinely work with trusted inspectors, financial institutions, warranty companies, contractors, and attorneys, and can detail the value of a property to an appraiser when they call. And appraisers do call. Further, a good real estate agent understands why there may be an anomaly in a particular neighborhood. For example, why a house sold below market value.
“If you think because you have access to Zillow that you know the market,” Curtis says, “I am here to humbly say you do not. We are not magicians, and we don’t always have the answer, but we have to be willing to say, ‘We don’t know,’ and look for the answer.”
Know that nobody has a crystal ball — nobody.
Regardless of how topsy-turvy the market may be over the next year, owning a home or apartment is almost always a great investment. Uncertainty is no reason to sit things out, experts say, so if you really need to buy a new home or are ready for the investment, don’t wait for market conditions that may never happen again to appear.
“You’re building equity, which you can borrow against if needed, and you have the tax advantage of a mortgage interest deduction,” says Randy Miller, a real estate agent at Miller Pollack, Keller Williams Village Square Realty. “Plus, as a primary residence, any profit you make up to $250,000 [as a single filer] or $500,000 [as a married filer] is tax-free as long as you live there for two years.”
As for interest rates and low housing stock? The impact of possible tariffs and Trump’s proposed mass deportations? Again, no one has a crystal ball, but everyone has an opinion.
“We can’t predict interest rates,” Curtis says. “And we can’t anticipate the myriad things that can go wrong, and they do.”
Krumholtz agrees, stating, “You can’t time the market,” Krumholtz says “Rates may go up. They may go down. The truth is, no one really knows. So, if the timing is right for you, go for it! I have seen buyers wait for rates to go down, only to watch them creep up and up over the last couple of years.”
Heidi Pollack, a Realtor who also works at Miller Pollack, Keller Williams Village Square Realty, says prices are set by the market. To Pollack, the 2025 expectation is that unless mortgage rates drop below 5%, the market will remain tight.
Remember that there are national trends, but all real estate is local.
It would be a mistake to simply assume that the business of real estate is conducted the same way in one state as another. Laws (town vs. county vs. state), zoning regulations, fees, titles searches, property taxes, and more can vary depending on your zip code.
“Each community (also) has its own patterns, habits, and traditions,” Curtis says. “To be competitive, you want to work with local talent. And it’s my sincere belief that it all begins with a dedicated real estate agent with an excellent track record.”
So, listen to the pros. Find the right Realtor or agent, try not to fixate on the future of mortgage rates, think local, and do some research — because the housing market in 2025 is going to deliver a very bumpy ride.
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