The Buzz is a regular summary of housing market news and data driving our decision-making at Bluebid.
Here's the Buzz for the week of January 25, 2024…
New mortgage applications were up 8% last week compared to the previous week, despite a slight uptick in rates, according to CNBC.
Freddie Mac published its Economic, Housing, and Mortgage Market outlook. If you're a buyer or seller who likes to get in the weeds, this report is for you! The outlook is more bullish than many others and calls for a 2.8% increase in 2024 pricing. The group expects rates to hover in the range of 6% this year.
2023 was a brutal year for the market and its participants. Business Insider digs into how affordability, inventory, and demographics have changed in 3 decades, as full-year home sales in 2023 fell to their lowest mark since 1995.
Recent data suggests plenty of reasons to be excited about the housing market in 2024, but that doesn't mean buyers & sellers should expect things to come easy. Yahoo Finance shares takeaways from a recent Zillow report which suggest today's "frozen" market is still more competitive than pre-pandemic norms. The culprit? Lack of available inventory.
While inventory on traditional listing services remains scarce, over 300 homes were added to Bluebid in the past week alone. It appears sellers are already jockeying for position ahead of what looks to be a busy spring in the US housing market. Want a better understanding of recent activity in your town? Select the 'market report' option from your homeowner dashboard, and a local expert will provide the report - for free!
Have a great week.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are my own and not the views of my coworkers or anyone else. I am not a financial advisor, investment advisor, or housing expert. I’m just a guy who cares deeply about saving the American Dream of homeownership.