INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Real estate experts are predicting 2024 will be an interesting year as interest rates start to decline and the housing market picks up.

“I think there’s a lot of great people that are going to take advantage of the lower interest rates as well as the more inventory that comes in the spring and summer,” said Mike Jones, the managing broker and owner at RE/MAX At The Crossing. “This is going to be a really exciting year.”

Jones said winter is normally a slower time of year for real estate, but, with interest rates decreasing, he has seen an increase in homes.

“Interest rates have already started to drop a little bit. We’re seeing people starting to take advantage of those already this early in the year, and we’re expecting those to drop even more,” Jones said. “A lot of the homeowners already have a lot of equity built into their properties so you have a lot of people making a lot of money when they want to sell, and buyers that have become a lot more normalized with the rates.”

Jones said corporations purchasing homes has been an issue in Indianapolis. The corporate purchasing makes it more difficult for some potential buyers and families to purchase a home.

“It’s best to make sure people can afford to buy houses and build that wealth and to have those opportunities and everything like we had, and passing it down to those future generations and everything,” Jones said.

National experts have warned home prices will likely not fall in 2024, but mortgage rates should average out to about 6.8%, according to Realator.com. December 2023 ended with a rate of 6.61%.

Jones said declining interest rates could encourage large corporations to purchase more homes to rent or flip. There are bills in Congress seeking to address corporate purchases.