The nation’s economic forecast, with increasing interest rates and rising inflation, is not as big a factor on real estate as one might expect, experts said.

“A shifting real estate market is nothing new for us,” Cheyanne Terracciano of RE/MAX All-Pro said. “It’s nothing that we should really be surprised about.”

A tightening credit market and rising interest rates have slowed housing sales as loans may be more difficult to obtain, she said.

This also means that more people are looking to the rental market and those who are buying homes may be looking for smaller, less expensive ones.

The challenge here is a limited supply of housing, which works to keep prices higher.

“We simply do not have enough housing to begin with,” Terracciano said.

The issue is compounded by a lack of movement in existing housing as people are not moving from one house to another.