{"id":62437,"date":"2022-12-28T19:18:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T03:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drduru.com\/onetwentytwo\/?p=62437"},"modified":"2023-02-01T00:32:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T08:32:13","slug":"bracing-for-2023-housing-market-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drduru.com\/onetwentytwo\/2022\/12\/28\/bracing-for-2023-housing-market-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Bracing for 2023 – Housing Market Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Housing Market Intro and Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A continued respite from rising rates<\/a> 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, faint signs of a bottoming for sentiment have started to appear. Home builders have successfully used incentives to keep inventory moving since the summer. This feat has likely started to add a modicum of confidence to some builders. For example, major home builders like Lennar (LEN) delivered relatively bullish earnings reports in recent weeks while promising to navigate the inflationary market environment with masterful precision<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Federal Reserve likely ending its rate hikes sometime early in 2023<\/a>, forecasters are looking forward to some kind of rebound for the housing market in the back half of 2023. Freddie Mac’s last forecast<\/a> pegged a 13.8% drop in home sales for 2023 following a 15.9% decline in 2022. Freddie Mac is clinging to flat prices for 2023. The October forecast was a significant downgrade from the July forecast<\/a> as soaring rates forced more pessimism into the outlook. The strong dependency on interest rate volatility means that bracing for 2023 includes leaning where the Fed leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The housing reality check<\/a> is unfolding in parallel with a resilient and robust labor market. This divergence is unusual as conventional wisdom declares as employment goes so goes the housing market. As a result, the labor market is a big wildcard for housing in 2023. The Federal Reserve anticipates a higher unemployment rate next year. So will more and more bad news from employers undermine the ability of the housing market to stabilize? Builders, buyers, and sellers alike will be bracing for what the labor market brings in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n