Mortgage rates poised to rise close to 5% in 2017

Mortgage rates may be trending down at the moment — but what comes down will go up as the year progresses, according to several key housing economists who spoke at the recent International Builders Conference in Orlando.

However, the impact should be minimal, they said.

The forecast by Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, was the worst of the bunch. He expects rates to hit 4.8 percent on average by the end of the year and jump to over 5 percent in 2018.