The National Association of Realtors has a reputation for putting a positive spin on housing trends. After all, it&39;s in their interest to promote the real estate market as a strong investment opportunity.

That&39;s why today&39;s NAR forecast news is so surprising. They are estimating drops in home sales and prices for the end of 2007:

"The median resale price probably will slip 1.7 percent to $218,200 this year, the Realtors&39; said. That would be the first national decline since the Great Depression in the 1930s, according to Yun. The new-home median selling price probably will fall 2.2 percent to $241,100, the report said."

The NAR predictions are still more upbeat that other analysts however, the group still fees that sales and prices will continue to rise in 2008. You can read more about the Realtor forecast and response from the mortgage industry online here.

Emily Davidson – Credit.com&39;s Communication Director and former TransUnion credit expert. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com moderator.