YOUR SOURCE FOR NEWS AFFECTING REAL ESTATE, THE ECONOMY AND LOCAL BUSINESS
Local
According to the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® recent report Saratoga County saw 2017 end with 18% fewer homes on the market than the year previous. The median sales price climbed to $285,000, up 6.3% from 2016 with an average of 55 days on market prior to sale.
National
Inventory shortages continue to pose problems for buyers. January existing home sales released this past Wednesday slid 3.2%. This marks the second consecutive month of declines. At the current pace of sales it would take 3.4 months to exhaust all available current inventory, significantly less than the 6 months widely considered to reflect a healthy housing market.
Concerns about inflation and possible rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are contributing factors in the recent rise of borrowing costs.
Mortgage rates continued an upward trend for 2018. In their weekly survey of lenders Freddie Mac reported the national average on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 4.40%. On a new $200,000 loan borrowers would pay $52.45 more in interest per month than they would at the start of the year.
Jobless claims came in at 222,000 for the week ending February 17th, hovering around levels last seen in the 1970's. The national unemployment rate of 4.1% is the lowest its been since 2000.
The Week Ahead
New home sales (Monday) Case-Shiller National Home Price Index (Tuesday) and 4th Quarter GDP (Wednesday) highlight a jam packed week of economic data to be released.
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Steven Luttman
Broker/Owner
SJLincoln Realty
35 Bath Street, Ballston Spa NY 12020
(518) 309-8584