November 8, 2024 Economic and Housing Market Update

November 8, 2024

• The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
• For the week ending Friday, November 8,  Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale recaps the latest economic commentary focused on the presidential election—where the Republican party was the clear voter’s choice, even though votes are still being tallied. Investors, markets and businesses are already beginning to adjust to the implications, and for housing, the results are mixed.
• Danielle highlights the key takeaway from the Fed’s post election meeting which involved a quarter percentage point cut which was widely expected. This smaller adjustment than the half point cut in September is more typical. 
• Although the Fed cut its rate, longer-term interest rates such as yields on the 10-year Treasuries have largely continued to climb, closing above 4.4% for the first time since July.
• Mortgage rates mirrored this climb, hitting 6.79% this week, also a 4-month high. Higher rates have led to a drop-off in mortgage applications for home purchases, but despite the week to week pull back, activity surpasses last year, when mortgage rates were substantially higher.
• In a pre-election survey, homebuyers were optimistic about mortgage rates, with only 1 in 5 expecting them to move higher in the next year.
• Realtor.com weekly housing data show that homes for sale continued to climb along with a growing number of new sellers compared to last year, but the gap was smaller than we’ve seen earlier in the year. 
• Nationwide, homes took more than a week longer to sell compared to one year ago, but in October’s Hottest Markets–mostly found in the Northeast and Midwest–homes still sell fast. Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire continued to rank as the number 1 market.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

• I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. And here’s what you need to know about the economy and housing market this week!
• Election Day has passed and the Republican party was the clear voter’s choice. President-elect Trump will have a majority to work with in the Senate and may also have a majority in the House, but votes are still being tallied as I record. 
• The Fed met in the days after the election and moved the policy rate down by a quarter percentage point which was widely expected. This smaller adjustment than the half point cut in September is more typical. 
• Despite the Fed rate cut, longer-term interest rates such as yields on 10-year Treasuries have largely continued their ascent, closing above 4.4% for the first time since July.
• Mortgage rates mirrored this climb, hitting 6.79% this week, also a 4-month high. Higher rates have led to a drop-off in mortgage applications for home purchases, but despite the week to week pull back, activity surpasses last year, when mortgage rates were substantially higher.
• In a pre-election survey, homebuyers were optimistic about mortgage rates, with only 1 in 5 expecting them to move higher in the next year–a 3-year low that is at odds with rate trends in the last few weeks.
• From an inventory perspective, weekly housing data from Realtor.com show that homes for sale continued to climb along with a growing number of new sellers compared to last year, but the gap was smaller than we’ve seen earlier in the year. 
• Nationwide, homes took more than a week longer to sell compared to one year ago, but in October’s Hottest Markets–mostly found in the Northeast and Midwest–homes still sell fast. Manchester-Nashua, New Hampshire continued to rank as the number 1 market.
• Finally, as results continue to roll in, investors, markets, and businesses are already beginning to adjust to the implications of this election. For housing, the results are mixed. 
• President-elect Trump was rightly vocal on the campaign trail about the need to improve housing affordability, a widely-shared priority. And Trump has offered both supply- and demand-side solutions. 
• On the supply-side, cutting regulation and making Federal land available for building should help. On the demand-side, curtailing immigration could reduce demand but may have unintended consequences such as reducing labor supply, particularly in the construction industry. 
• While not a housing-specific proposal, widespread tariffs would make it more costly to build homes, offsetting other supply-focused policies.
• As always, we’ll continue to track the trends, and you’ll find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research.  You can also follow us on X (formerly twitter) for real time updates. And instagram for graphics.

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