Quote:
Originally Posted by finnbow
There has never been any doubt about the tax cuts providing a short-term sugar high. The issue is whether $1.5 trillion tax cut was the right thing to do at (nearly) full employment and at this point in the business cycle due to inflation and long-term debt concerns.
I hesitate to again emphasize to a person so unversed in economics and statistics as you that one data point does not establish a trend. Meanwhile, interest rates continue to increase unabated while the loss of home mortgage tax breaks are likely to put a damper on the housing market.
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Yeah, I understand how a bit of good economic news can be really depressing for you.
What'll hit home sales harder than interest rate hikes is a lack of supply which is causing home prices to rise. You know, that whole "supply and demand" thing that impacts price and buying habits.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1G51W1
Existing home sales, which account for about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, declined 4.8 percent on a year-on-year basis in January. That was the biggest year-on-year drop since August 2014. The weakness in home sales is largely a function of supply constraints rather than a lack of demand, which is being driven by a robust labor market.
The shortage of properties is concentrated at the lower end of the market. While the number of previously-owned homes on the market rose 4.1 percent to 1.52 million units in January, housing inventory was down 9.5 percent from a year ago.
That was also the lowest inventory for January on record. Supply has declined for 32 straight months on a year-on-year basis. At January’s sales pace, it would take 3.4 months to exhaust the current inventory, up from 3.2 months in December.