If you spent the month of December wrapping up Christmas presents instead of moving boxes, you are not alone. Existing-home sales dropped 1.0% compared to the previous month to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.78 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) . Even though the holidays are not known to be the height of real estate activity, primarily owing to busy schedules and cold...
Supply chain woes, dwindling qualified workforce, pricey materials, local red tape, angry neighbors…the list of reasons why homebuilders may not look at the future with rose-tinted glasses goes on and on. However, things may look up as mortgage rates start cooling down. As mortgage rates descended below 7% in January, builder confidence surged seven points to 44, according to the National Association...
Will they? Won’t they? Reduce interest rates, that is. 2024 is the year experts (and many Americans) eagerly wait for the Federal Reserve Bank to end its aggressive monetary policy and begin to cut interest rates. However, Fed officials have consistently been adopting a more conservative approach, and with good reason. Cutting back interest rates too early could easily cancel the progress made over the...
Happy New Year! We are back on our regular schedule after a two-week break with a recap of the indicators you may have missed during the holidays. Fall and winter may be known as a relatively slow season in real estate compared to the rush of spring and summer. However, property prices continued their upward trajectory in October, breaking new record highs in several regions despite mortgage rates...