Interest Rates Easing, Sparks New Demand
I hope everyone enjoyed a great Thanksgiving with friends and family and we can also give thanks to lower mortgage rates which increased demand AGAIN last week. Purchase applications were up 3.9% and refinance applications increased 1.6%. This is beginning to prove the point we have been making – when rates go down demand will come up and home prices will remain stable, or even increase. There just does not seem to be an argument where rates will go down and home prices will also go down. So if you have not yet accepted the “new normal”, we are now in the new normal. So if you hoping to get into a home in 2024. START. NOW. Let us help you sort out where you’re at and where you need to be in order to get in the market!
It appears that existing home sales may have hit their bottom in the fall of 2023. Not only are we seeing an increase of existing home sales get listed on the market but coupled with lower mortgage rates you are starting to see increased demand on existing homes. This is also a force function of less new home builds hitting the market compared to the new build rate of the past. It looks like 2024 could see an uptick of even more existing home sales coming to the market as buyer and seller sentiment is starting to believe that we may have reached the rate limit as well as the final gridlock between whether or not to sell or not sell.
In case you have missed some of our most recent mortgage solutions on our weekly podcast show jump over to that playlist and listen in on some of the monthly cost saving solutions Brian and William have helped borrowers obtain in this current market. Two specific instances have clients saving $1200 and $1300 a month in out-of-pocket expenses by redistributing debt against the home equity versus continuing to pay down their consumer debt out of pocket on their own against lines of credits and credit card interest rates in the 20s. So if you are watching this and you have home equity begging to help bring you some monthly financial relief there are solutions that exist for you, yes even today.
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So with that, let’s take a quick look at what’s coming up in the markets this week.
Monday: We have New Home sales coming out
Tuesday: Consumer Confidence is released and we have 4 Fed members speaking
Wednesday: Preliminary GDP Quarter over quarter comes out and it expected to be at 5.0%….WAAAAAAY higher than the “below trend” growth that the Fed has been telling us they need to see. So, in an odd way, a really good GDP could spell trouble for the Fed’s plans.
Thursday: Core PCE month over month and unemployment claims come out, but don’t sleep on Pending Home sales. THAT is going to really shed light on the Fall/winter health of home sales that’s unfolding right in front of our eyes.
Friday: we get some manufacturing data, and couple more fed members speaking, but the biggie is Jerome Powell himself. He’ll be participating in a fireside chat Spelman college in Atlanta to close out the week. So Jerome end us off on a high note ok!?!
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