National real estate update January 2023

NATIONAL REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE JANUARY 2023

Existing Home Sales slipped in December, blamed on falling affordability. But the National Association of Realtors noted, “expect sales to pick up again soon since mortgage rates have markedly declined after peaking late last year.”

HOUSING STARTS

Housing Starts dipped a tick overall too, yet it was all due to multi-families and single-family starts rose for the first time in four months, scoring the biggest monthly percentage gain in more than a year.

Permits fell a bit, but builders have their hands full, with homes under construction at the highest level going back to 1970. And with the recent drop in mortgage rates, homebuilder sentiment rose for the first time in 13 months.

REVIEW OF LAST WEEK

CASHING IN THE GAINS… After the strong start to the year, some traders decided to take money off the table, sending the Dow and S&P 500 down, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq stayed positive.

There were also a few concerns about economic growth and rate hikes. These were spiked by weak December retail sales and manufacturing data, plus the Fed’s Beige Book forecasting little growth going forward.

But welcome news came as December’s Producer Price Index (PPI) reported a slowdown in wholesale price inflation. We also saw initial weekly jobless claims drop to their lowest level since late September.

The week ended with the Dow down 2.7%, to 33,375; the S&P 500 down 0.7%, to 3,973; and the Nasdaq UP 0.6%, to 11,140.

NATIONAL REAL ESTATE MRKET UPDATE 2023

Bond prices overall barely moved up for the week, though the UMBS 5.5% slipped .04, to $101.11. The national real estate market update January 2023 average on a 30-year fixed mortgage rate headed down again in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Remember, mortgage rates can be extremely volatile, so check with your mortgage professional for up-to-the-minute information.

DID YOU KNOW… Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist noted, “Rates are at their lowest level since September of last year, boosting both homebuyer demand and homebuilder sentiment,” adding “declining rates are providing a much-needed boost to the housing market.”