Rates, Housing, Stocks - All the Things

The stock market has been brutal the past few weeks, I'm sure you've noticed. The housing market remains optimistic but as we've said in these updates before, the entire Silicon Valley housing market is propped up by big tech stock prices, so make sure you're paying attention.

The Fed has recently paused rate cuts due to concern of the re-acceleration of inflation. The CPI result that comes out tomorrow with anything less than a projection of 2.9% could change the Fed's decision on March 19th. Why? Because we have nearly $3T of U.S. debt expected to hit maturity this year. Just like a homeowner, the government also wants better rates to refinance their debt in order to keep the liquidity flow seamless.

So here are a few takeaways from today's update: If you're already a homeowner, follow up closely with your lender as the next few weeks or few months could be your chance to refinance, depending on when you bought, obviously (I already had 2 clients refinance last week due to recent rate drops!). If you're in the market for a house, preserve that cash and work with a qualified agent. You tend to get better negotiation terms when everybody is spooked by the decline of the stock market. Homes are still moving though, it's still selling season and we're still seeing quite a bit of competition out there.

Happy Tuesday! Make it a great one!