Market Studies

"This decline in repeat borrowers is strongest along the U.S. coasts, where the housing crisis diminished borrowers’ abilities to retain or gain equity in their current homes, reducing their likelihood of selling their existing homes and purchasing new ones," the report stated.

Auction.com' reported that existing home sales gains have not seen much activity since May, and are expected to be mostly unchanged from October to November.

As we prepare to enter into 2016, one can only wonder what the next year will bring in terms of housing. One thing is for sure though, the picture will look completely different as hot markets begin to cool down.

The report showed that mid-sized metros experienced some of the largest price increases in the country, while larger metros saw home prices decline.

"The trend in the market indicates consumers appear more confident in the economy and are moving forward with their lives and borrowing money again." -Assad Lazarus, SVP, Product and Customer Experience at Equifax Personal Information Solutions.

"Many markets have experienced a low inventory of homes for sale along with strong buyer demand, which is sustaining upward pressure on home prices. These conditions are likely to persist as we enter 2016,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic.

So how adversely does student debt affect consumers' ability to get a mortgage loan? A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland released Monday showed that as the percentage of younger consumers with student loan debt rose over the last ten years, those with a mortgage declined.

First-time buyers may want to turn their attentions toward suburbs in 2016. As home prices are showing no signs of slowing down, affordability becomes a larger issue when purchasing a home.

Black Knight Financial Services' Data and Analytics division released its September 2015 Home Price Index report, finding that U.S. home prices rose marginally by 0.1 percent in September.

When it comes to predicting the future of the market, the best indicator is in 2015’s housing data. Editor's note: This select print feature appears in the November 2015 edition of MReport magazine, available now.