Has the housing market bottomed out?  Will housing prices continue to rise? What does this mean for interest rates

Has the housing market bottomed out?  Will housing prices continue to rise? What does this mean for interest rates

Like most, I have been surprised at the recent upward movement in prices.  Did we just experience the shortest housing cycle ever?  Are housing prices going to continue their recent upward swing?  Why are housing prices now moving higher after a very shallow decline...
Why do consumers keep spending and how does this impact real estate

Why do consumers keep spending and how does this impact real estate

According to a recent Federal Reserve Report, fourteen million mortgages were refinanced during the COVID refinance boom, and these refinances will have effects on the mortgage market, real estate, and the general economy for years to come. An astonishing 430 billion...
Home Depot slides, house prices stabilize, consumers will keep spending

Home Depot slides, house prices stabilize, consumers will keep spending

  Interesting times we are in.  Consumers keep spending big on services like travel and eating out, but on the flip side Home Depot just reported its first drop since the pandemic.  On the other hand Target tops earnings estimates.  What is driving the continued...
Consumer debt passes $17 trillion for the first time despite slide in mortgage demand

Consumer debt passes $17 trillion for the first time despite slide in mortgage demand

  Households added $148 billion in overall debt, bringing the total to $17.05 trillion, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday. Balances are now $2.9 trillion higher than just before the pandemic.  What categories are...
Commercial real estate falls first time since 2011; what is causing the decline?

Commercial real estate falls first time since 2011; what is causing the decline?

US commercial real estate prices fell in the first quarter for the first time in more than a decade, according to Moody’s Analytics, heightening the risk of more financial stress in the banking industry.  What property types are declining? (hint not just office...
Higher credit score borrowers pay more under new government rule

Higher credit score borrowers pay more under new government rule

No this is not a joke, I had to read the recent Fannie Mae press release multiple times to actually believe what I was reading.  Who would have ever thought that someone with a high credit score above 740 would be penalized for having a high score.  Under a new rule...