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In so many ways 2016 was an unprecedented, volatile and, for some, excruciating 12 months. And the housing market was not immune to the year’s whims. At the start experts anticipated a pick up in building activity, instead builders are still not producing enough homes. Meanwhile, home prices appreciated beyond expectations and mortgage rates toyed with record lows before crossing 4% for the first time in two years. "If the expectation was that the market would transition smoothly from deep red hot recovery to normal--that certainly didn’t happen," says Svenja Gudell, chief economist at real estate data firm Zillow.

Nevertheless, Gudell and others argue that on balance 2016 was a pretty good year for housing. National prices finally crossing the previous 2006 peak, mortgage rates remained historically low and there were some signs that Millennials, a generation which some feared would never buy homes, are beginning to enter the market. Through it all the election loomed large. In 2017 we'll see how profound it's effects. Read more.