Stock markets ended the week almost unchanged from last week – Aside from some weakness in tech stocks, markets had a calm week. That is great news because stocks soared last week on lower than expected inflation and it is not unusual to see some investors sell and take profits after huge increases like we saw last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 33,745.69, almost unchangedfrom 33,747.86 last week. It is down 7.1% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,965.34, down 0.7% from 3,992.93 last week. The S&P is down 16.2% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 11,146.06, up 1.4% from 11,323.33 last week. It is down 28.8% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week, yielding 3.87%, down from 3.82% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 3.92%, down from 4.03% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of November 17, 2022, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.61%, down from 7.08% last week. The 15-year fixed was 5.98%, down from 6.38% last week.
U.S. existing-home sales – The National Association of Realtors reported thatexisting-home sales totaled 4.43 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in October, down 5.9% month-over-month from the annualized number of sales in September. Year-over-year sales were down 28.4% from an annualized rate of 6.19 million in October 2021. The median price for a home in the U.S. in September was $379,100, up 6.6% from $355,700 one year ago. October marked a record 128 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in the median price. There was a 3.3-month supply of homes for sale in October, up from a 2.4-month supply last October. First-time buyers accounted for 28% of all sales. Investors and second-home purchases accounted for 16% of all sales. All-cash purchases accounted for 26% of all sales. Foreclosure and short sales accounted for 1% of all sales.
California existing-home sales – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 274,040, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis in October, down 10.4% month-over-month from September, and down 36.9% year-over-year from October 2021, when 434,140 homes sold on an annualized basis. The statewide median price paid for a home in October was $801,190, up 0.3% from $798,440 in October 2021. There was a 3.3-month supply of homes for sale in October, down from a 1.8-month supply one year ago.