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Wednesday December 4, 2019

// December 4th, 2019 // Comments Off on Wednesday December 4, 2019 // Daily News

Next Year will be hard on the housing market, especially in these big cities
PUBLISHED WED, DEC 4 20196:38 AM ESTUPDATED 19 MIN AGO
Diana Olick

Sales of existing homes will fall 1.8% from 2019, according to the forecast.
Home prices will flatten nationally, increasing just 0.8% annually, but prices will fall in a quarter of the 100 largest metropolitan markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, St. Louis, Detroit and San Francisco.
As demand heats up in the spring, driven by the growing number of millennials entering the market, the supply of homes for sale could hit its lowest in history.
Home sales will drop, the housing shortage could become the worst in U.S. history, and home values will shrink in some cities. That’s the 2020 forecast from realtor.com, which holds one of the largest databases of housing statistics available.
Sales of existing homes will fall 1.8% from 2019, according to the forecast. Home prices will flatten nationally, increasing just 0.8% annually, but prices will fall in a quarter of the 100 largest metropolitan markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, St. Louis, Detroit and San Francisco.
It is a seemingly contrary assessment, given the current strength of the economy and of homebuyer demand, but the dynamics of this housing market are unlike any other — the result of a housing crash unlike any other.
“Real estate fundamentals remain entangled in a lattice of continuing demand, tight supply and disciplined financial underwriting,” said George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com. “Accordingly, 2020 will prove to be the most challenging year for buyers, not because of what they can afford but rather what they can’t find.”
It’s all about supply. The inventory of homes for sale has been falling steadily for several years and is at its lowest on the lowest end of the market. That caused prices to overheat, weakening affordability. The 2020 forecast offers no relief, in fact just the opposite. As demand heats up in the spring, driven by the growing number of millennials entering the market, the supply of homes for sale could hit its lowest in history. The situation will only be exacerbated by the baby boom generation, which, according to the forecast, will have little incentive to sell, given weaker home prices.
“While millennials share many similar traits with prior generations, they have been marked by a delay in major life milestones, including starting a family and purchasing a home,” said Ratiu. “Millennials not only purchased a higher-priced first home but faced with growing families, many of them skipped the traditional starter home and moved straight to a mid-priced, trade-up home.”

Today’s Inspiration

DECEMBER 04, 2019
Every Day Is Thanksgiving
Adapted from the resource The Greatest Gift Study – by Joyce Meyer

Thanksgiving is not just a day to eat turkey and pumpkin pie. It was a day originally set aside to remember and give thanks to God for what He had done in protecting the first men and women who came to America, fleeing religious persecution in Europe. It was a type of harvest celebration like the one that the Jews celebrated – a day to give thanks for the crops they were able to harvest.

In addition to thanking God as we go through life, it is also a good idea to set aside special times of gratitude and giving thanks.

Sometimes our family sits together and remembers where God has brought us from, and we thank Him for all He has done. Dave and I talk about our life when our children were all young and we lived in a tiny three-room apartment and had to cash in soda pop bottles to make it through until payday.

I am sure you can recall times similar to those we had, and remembering them makes us thankful for how God brought us through them, and for all the progress we have made by His goodness.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to realize that Thanksgiving is more than just a day on the calendar. I am grateful for all You have done in my life, not just today, but every day of the year.

Tuesday November 19, 2019

// November 18th, 2019 // Comments Off on Tuesday November 19, 2019 // Daily News

Trump and Jerome Powell meet on economy, but Fed says decisions will remain ‘non-political’

President Donald Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell met Monday to discuss various economic issues.
Trump called the meeting “good & cordial” and said the two spoke about rates and dollar strength.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also was part of the meeting.
Presidents and Fed chairs have met regularly in the past, but few have had as publicly contentious a relationship as Trump and Powell.
President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who have been at odds over the direction of monetary policy, met Monday to discuss a variety of economic issues, according to a statement from the central bank.
The two, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, discussed the economy broadly as well as growth, employment trends and inflation.
Powell’s “comments were consistent with his remarks at his congressional hearings last week,” the Fed said.
Trump confirmed the meeting on his Twitter feed, saying the meeting was “good & cordial.”
Just finished a very good & cordial meeting at the White House with Jay Powell of the Federal Reserve. Everything was discused including interest rates, negative interest, low inflation, easing, Dollar strength & its effect on manufacturing, trade with China, E.U. & others, etc.

In separate meetings with panels on Capitol Hill, Powell said he felt that monetary policy was appropriate and likely to hold steady unless there are some significant changes in the economic outlook.
In addition, he said several times that Fed policy is not influenced by political considerations. That’s a key point, considering that Trump has been vocal in his criticism of the Powell Fed, saying that interest rate increases in 2018 were not necessary and that the central bank has been too slow to ease policy this year.

The full statement from the Fed:

At the President’s invitation, Chair Powell met with the President and the Treasury Secretary Monday morning at the White House to discuss the economy, growth, employment and inflation.
Chair Powell’s comments were consistent with his remarks at his congressional hearings last week. He did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming information that bears on the outlook for the economy.
Finally, Chair Powell said that he and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective and non-political analysis.

Today’s Inspiration