Mortgage rates continue to decline in the United States. The 30-year fixed rate, which serves as the benchmark for the sector, ends 2023 at 6.61%.
This level, the lowest since May, is far from the peak close to 7.8% in late October/early November and signals a return to less restrictive credit conditions. This is excellent news for the real estate market, one of the sectors most affected by the credit crunch.
While it is true that housing prices have not experienced a real correction – over a year, housing prices in the country’s 20 largest metropolises are up 4.9% – the volume of sales has collapsed, existing home sales at their lowest level in more than a decade, and new home sales also falling short of pandemic highs.
Inevitably, this form of the construction sector weighs on the economy as a whole.
Expected to continue as the Fed’s policy rate cuts approach, this decline in credit price should allow a recovery of this sector, which will not fail to lend a hand to the economy.
Still relatively dynamic, the US economy seems well-positioned to make a smooth landing.
We continue to invest in it in our portfolio.