Despite higher mortgage rates and elevated home prices, existing home sales jumped to an 8-month high in November, marking the second month of annual increase in more than three years, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). While inventory improves and the Fed continues lowering rates, the market faces headwinds as mortgage rates are…
Dec
18
2024
In a widely anticipated move, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reduced the short-term federal funds rate by an additional 25 basis points at the conclusion of its December meeting. This policy move reduces the top target rate to 4.5%. However, the Fed’s newly published forward-looking projections also noted a reduction in the…
Dec
18
2024
Ongoing lean levels of single-family existing home inventory helped to boost single-family production in November, while overall housing production fell because of a double-digit percentage drop in multifamily construction. Overall housing starts decreased 1.8% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of…
Dec
18
2024
State & local tax revenue from property taxes paid reached $203.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted), according to the Census Bureau’s quarterly summary of state & local tax revenue. This marks a 2.8% increase from the revised $198.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024 and also marks the first quarter where…
Dec
16
2024
Over the first ten months of 2024, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 846,446. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is an increase of 9.4% over the October 2023 level of 773,526. Year-to-date ending in October, single-family permits were up in all four regions. The range of permit increases spanned…
Dec
16
2024
The U.S. trade deficit in goods was at $112 billion in the month of October, according to the Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade data. Compared to last year, the level has increased 13.3%, rising from $99 billion. Total goods imported was valued at $289 billion while the exports were valued at $177 billion in October. The…