Late last year, analysts were betting on a break from the hot housing market, which had begun to breed concerns of instability. How long could prices really run up?

The consensus was strong: Expect interest rates to rise to 5 percent—possibly 6 percent—appreciation to crawl, and inventory to stir. And that buyer's market?Not in the cards—yet. We're in a decidedly different housing market today, and according to an amended forecast newly published by realtor.com®, there'll be better outcomes for prices, rates and sales than we thought.