Bracing for 2023 – Housing Market Review

bracing for 2023 (Credit: Bracing for the storm by mick62 on Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary A continued respite from rising rates gave some breathing room for new home sales to stabilize in November while existing home sales continued to plunge with a dearth of inventory helping to suck air out of the room. Housing starts continued to plunge in parallel with home builder sentiment. However, … Read more

A Respite from Rising Rates – Housing Market Review

respite (Credit: Short respite for the Ruby Mountain Crew while cutting fire line in Division W by USFS Rocky Mtns from Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I described how a housing recession was reflected in the worsening housing data, including the latest report on U.S. GDP. While new home sales made another surprise bounce in October, the rest of the housing data continued to worsen in the month. However, a … Read more

The Fed Frowns At the Latest Bear Market Breakthrough – The Market Breadth

Fed frowns at latest bear market rally

Stock Market Commentary: I continue to underestimate just how much these bear market rallies price in misplaced optimism over monetary policy from the Fed. Although Chair Jerome Powell remained overall consistent with the Fed’s hawkish, inflation-fighting message, the stock market plunged after an initial post-release surge. Accordingly, the latest bear market breakthrough came to an … Read more

Ever Higher Mortgage Rates, More Market Pressures – Housing Market Review

Ever Higher Mortgage Rates, More Market Pressures (credit: House collapse by PurpleLorikeet from Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I described the dynamics of a housing market trying to wait out this cycle of rising rates. Since then, ever higher mortgage rates continued their relentless and sharp uptrend. Accordingly, the pressures on the housing market simply increased further. The marks of a deepening … Read more

Waiting out the Rate Cycle – Housing Market Review

waiting out the rate cycle (Credit: waiting by max_thinks_sees on Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I called the housing slowdown a “reality check.” That reality is settling into all corners of the market. With mortgage rates resuming their surge over the past two months, the go-forward picture has dimmed further for the housing market. It seems likely the housing … Read more