Hope your week is off to a great start! I want to give you a quick update on the housing market, interest rates and what that might mean for your home financing goals. Overall, it’s a pretty quiet week in terms of major economic data, so in large part markets will likely be pretty quiet as we all wait for the main events next week: a Fed Meeting and the monthly Jobs Report.
Current Market Snapshot
Rates started this week hovering near the highs we saw last week. There haven’t been any major surprises yet, but we did see some modest improvement by the day’s end on Monday. While this is a small positive, please keep in mind that rates could still fluctuate, especially in anticipation of next week’s high-impact happenings.
Freddie Mac’s latest survey just confirmed the trend we’re seeing – the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage surpassed 7% for the first time this year. Their chief economist highlights an important point: buyers are facing that tough “buy now or wait it out” dilemma as rates continue to climb. So my recommendation is that if you’re considering a purchase in the near future, let’s come up with a strategy for you to best be able to achieve your financial goals.
Looking Ahead
For the rest of this week and next week’s economic calendar has the potential to cause even more volatility. As for what I’m watching, we’ll see the Fed’s favorite inflation indicator this Friday as well as the latest GDP (gross domestic product) report and some housing data sprinkled throughout.
New Home Sales came out this week showing a 8.8 percent increase month over month after a rough quarter for sales which led to lots of price cutting for builders in March. The median sales price for new homes sold in March was $430,700.
As for GDP, first-quarter is expected to slow to 2.3 percent annualized growth versus fourth-quarter growth of 3.4 percent. Personal consumption expenditures, after the fourth quarter’s 3.3 percent rate, are expected to rise at a 2.8 percent pace.
And finally, on Friday, the Fed’s favorite inflation index comes out. Inflation readings for March are expected at monthly increases of 0.3 percent both overall and for the core (versus 0.3 percent for both in February). Annual rates are expected to show a slight upward shift at 2.6 percent overall and 2.7 percent for the core (versus February’s 2.5 and 2.8 percent).
Next week will likely be an active one! Let me know if you have questions in the meantime – I’m always happy to help!
