Stock markets rallied again this week - Stocks have now had solid gains for three out of the first four weeks of 2023. Better inflation data in the U.S. and a shift to cutting costs have investors feeling that profits will remain strong even if U.S. consumers pull back on spending. A change in China's COVID policy has their economy rebounded after nearly three years of shutdowns. This has increased manufacturing, easing supply shortages, and Chinese consumers have increased spending. This has investors very optimistic about U.S. corporate profits, as supplies from China will be more available, and Chinese consumers will purchase U.S.-made goods.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 33,979.08, up 1.8% from 33,375.49 last week. It is up 2.5% year-to-date.
The S&P 500 closed the week at 4,070.56, up 2.5% from 3,972.61 last week. It is up 4.9% year-to-date.
The NASDAQ closed the week at 11,621.71, up 4.3% from 11,140.44 last week. It is up 11% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields - The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 3.52%, up from 3.48% last week.
The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 3.64%, almost unchanged from 3.66% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.
Mortgage rates - The
Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of January 26, 2023, were as follows:
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.13%, down slightly from 6.15% last week.
The 15-year fixed was 5.17%, down from 5.28% last week.
U.S. existing-home sales - The National Association of Realtors reported that
existing-home sales totaled 4.02 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in
December, down 1.5% month-over-month from the annualized number of sales in November.
Year-over-year sales were
down 34% from an annualized rate of 6.09 million in December 2021. While the number of homes sold dropped about 30% in the last half of the year, 2022 started very strong. Existing-home sales totaled 5.03 million in 2022, down 17.8% from the number of homes sold in 2021. The
median price for a home in the U.S. in November was
$366,900, up 2.3% from $358,800 one year ago. December marked a record 130 consecutive year-over-year increases in the median price. There was a
2.9-month supply of homes for sale in December, up from a 1.7-month pool last December.
First-time buyers accounted for 31% of all sales.
Investors and second-home purchases accounted for
16% of all sales.
All-cash purchases accounted for
28% of all sales.
Foreclosure and short sales accounted for
1% of all sales.
You can get a market report with December sales figures for your city or zip code at
https://sam4home.com/freereports.aspx or get a complimentary valuation of your home at
https://rodeore.findbuyers.com/samsocalre@gmail.com