Clark Biweekly 1 1 24

Author

Anthony Hazzard
December 31, 2023

Later in this email, find out why 2024 should be a better year for potential home buyers.

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🏠️ Expect the Housing Market To Improve for Potential Buyers in 2024

A spike in housing prices followed by the fastest interest-rate increases in decades made the last three years some of the toughest for potential home buyers in a generation.

However, as inflation gets closer to the Fed’s stated 2% target virtually every month, there’s hope that 2024 will get better for buyers.

The market is anticipating several small interest rate cuts in ’24. That has helped mortgage rates fall for nine consecutive weeks.

A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.61% at the end of last week. Not long ago, that number sat above 7%.

That rate is based on borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit. It would not be a surprise to see those with excellent credit able to get 30-year mortgage loans under 6% particularly in the second half of this year.

Clark has predicted that the housing market will go sideways for a few years after the huge run-up in value caused in part by COVID-19 supply issues and what were historically low interest rates.

The vehicle market has slowly moderated and is becoming fairly normal. It may take a year or two for the housing market to do the same – and we probably won’t see anything close to the 2% mortgage rates some were getting – but for now, expect steady improvement.

📊 Stat of the Day

💸 $100 million+: Revenue Costco made by selling gold bars during its most recent fiscal quarter. The 24-karat bars weigh one ounce. Customers pay a fraction more than the gold spot price and are limited to two per person.

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🎙️ Podcast

Do you use autopay for credit card bills? If so, Clark has a warning for you.

☎️ Need Money Help?

The Team Clark Consumer Action Center is a free helpline that can help you navigate your money questions. Call 636-492-5275. Visit clark.com/cac for more information.

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