Fed Promises Rate Cuts for 2024, Is Soft Landing Coming?
The Fed kept rates unchanged at their December meeting, and is forecasting three rate cuts. This got everyone excited and mortgage rates are down under 6% for the first time in many months. It's all teeing up pretty nicely for the so called "soft landing" scenario where we don't go into a full fledged recession.
Inflation has slowed to a 3.1% annual rate as the consumer price index only increased .1% in November, helped by the decrease in energy prices. Year over year, S&P Corelogic Case Shiller Index showed that home prices increased 4.7% over a year ago.
What does 2024 have in store?
It's all in the details......locally inventories are expected to rise, as compared to this year, but prices are forecasted at same to a little higher. Mortgage rates are expected to stay steady. One potential headwind will be insurance availability and increasing premiums. It's not been uncommon to have buyers scrambling to find insurance for their new home before close of escrow.
Check out the chart below..... the three month rolling period is showing increases for almost all areas. While rates are higher and inventory is slightly higher, it's still not enough to offset buyer demand.
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Single family home prices(median) for September 2023-November 2023:
| Glendale | + 4.1% |
| Burbank | + 5.4% |
| Toluca Lake* | - 7.6% |
| Pasadena | + 1.1% |
| Studio City | + 17.1% |
| Hollywood Hills* | + 0.0% |
| Valley Village | + 2.9% |
| Sherman Oaks | + 15.6% |
| Woodland Hills | + 9.7% |
are somewhat misleading
Weekly national mortgage rates for loans under $400,000, top credit scores:
| 30 yr. fixed rate | 6.95 | ||
| 15 yr. fixed rate | 6.38 | ||
How Can I Assess A Home's Value?
