The housing market is changing a lot these days, and as the calendar flips into 2015, everyone should prepare for what experts are calling the new normal. 

The new year will likely be marked by somewhat of a return to balance for the U.S. housing economy as the formerly rapidly recovering market enters a state of stability and normalcy for the first time in years, according to Forbes. While 2014 has been rather strange, including a polar vortex and the slow transition from recovery to stability, 2015 will feature a few of its own trends. Lenders and house hunters alike should keep these trends in mind as January begins and the housing market edges closer to stability. For more on what is expected of the new normal, read about some of the predictions below: 

However slowly, housing prices will continue to rise
Housing prices will make small gains through 2015, but they will be gains nonetheless. In December 2013, year-over-year price growth was 10.8 percent, Forbes explained. In September 2014, prices increased a mere 4.8 percent from the same month a year prior. The gains will continue to slow – experts predicts a 2.5 percent overall annual gain 2015 – but prices will keep edging up. This, of course, means that affordability could fall deeper in 2015.  

Millennials are changing the market
Part of the reason that housing prices are expected to rise, however slowly, through 2015? Millennials starting families, getting jobs and beginning their collective search for homes of their own, Fortune noted. For a long time, the largest American demographic regularly participating in the housing market was the baby boomers. This is about to change in a big way, though. Now-23-year-olds are the largest age group in the country, followed by those similar in age, and some of these individuals will begin moving toward starting a family and finding a home. In 2015, this is expected to have a significant impact on housing the the U.S. 

Builders will start working on cheaper homes
For a while now, builders have focused on building a limited number of more expensive homes due to a lack of land availability, but this trend will likely reverse in 2015, according to Forbes. New home sales have remained steady due to the fact that they’ve been typically more expensive. But as builders shift focus to cheaper models next year, new home sales are expected. to rise. Since the recession, sales have hung around the 450,000 mark, but are projected to break 500,000 next year.