Housing Marking Updates
Rob Breese, VP General Sales Manager
RE/MAX 200 Realty | RE/MAX Town & Country Realty
Here’s our weekly briefing on all thing’s real estate!
Talking to your clients this week? Of course, you are! Remember: better informed agents provide more valuable counsel to their clients in a world controlled by the negative news media. Your number one priority as a REALTOR® in 2023 is to educate your SOI. “EDUCATE, or they stay in place.” Your career will stay in place too if you don’t educate.
More positive inflection points continue:
- December NAR Pending Home Sales Index was up 2.5%. The first rise since June 2022. A good sign that the housing market has bottomed out & is making a
comeback due to recent declines in mortgage rates! - Core P.C.E. (Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index)—which real estate economist, Barry Habib, says gives the truest reflection on inflation—eased to 4.4% in December. That is the smallest increase in 15 months & clearly a sign, according to Habib, that inflation is ebbing.
- The FED lifted its policy rate by only 25 basis points & FED chairman, Jerome Powell, left strong indications that there will be no further large basis point hikes. No tough talk on inflation by Powell. Bond markers rallied upon this news and as a result, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate moved lower, tantalizingly close to 6%.
- The Case-Shiller Home Price Index for 2022 was up 7.7% over 2021.
- The FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) price index was up 8.2% in 2022 over 2021. Furthermore, the index was up 0.5% month over month in January; the rise mostly located in sunbelt states such as Florida.
- Americans are buying houses this winter! Each week, inventory is falling and pendings are climbing. The market has fewer price reductions and more immediate sales each week. Available inventory of single-family homes on the market declined by another 1.8% this past week to 457,000. This year’s change is notable because inventory was rising unusually fast in September and October. On the demand side, pending volume is way up over December and climbing rapidly. Single-family homes pending andwere up 6% over last week.
These are amazing returns! Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Orlando all have had home price increases in excess of 60% since December 2019.
Clearly, there’s been no housing crash in Florida. At one time, California was the state the whole country watched; now it’s Florida. It’s great to live & work in Central Florida!
Spread the word!
