You’ve been following the market all year (at least, we hope so – it’s your job!), so you know that big news included home prices bottoming earlier in the year and slowly – very slowly – increasing ever since. Construction also appeared to have bottomed and housing starts are up. And of course, with 2012 being an election year, everyone is now waiting with anticipation with what will be done for housing next year as a result of legislation.

We’re also anxious as to what might happen next year for housing, and what’s on the horizon. We took a look at our news for the past year, analyzed the data and graphs (thanks to the National Association of Home Builders for the ones reprinted here) and came up with our own predictions for what will happen in terms of inventory, mortgages, new construction and more. We also asked a panel of industry professionals who are at the top of their game for their opinions, too. Read on for an outlook on what next year holds.