The Dow and the S&P 500 closed the week at record highs – Tech stocks led the way with an impressive week, but all sectors were generally higher. The resilience in the economy has surprised investors who were expecting a slowdown one year ago and now see the economy continuing to expand. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 39,151.53, up 1.4% from 38,627.99 last week. It is up 3.9% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 5,088.80, up 1.7% from 5,005.57 last week. The S&P is up 6.7% year-to-date. The Nasdaq closed the week at 15,996.82, up 1.4% from 15,775.65 last week. It is up 6.6% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.26%, down from 4.30% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.37%, down from 4.45% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.
Mortgage rates – Every Thursday Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of February 15, 2024, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.90%, up from 6.77% last week. The 15-year fixed was 6.29%, up from 6.12% last week.
The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.
Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 to keep money flowing to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. Their mandate is to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S.
U.S. existing-home sales – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 4 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in January, down 4.8% from an annualized rate of 4.2 million in January 2023. The median price for a home in the U.S. in January was 379,100, up 5.1% from $360,800 last January. There was a 3-month supply of homes for sale in January, almost unchanged from a 2.9-month supply last January. First-time buyers accounted for 28% of all sales. Investors and second-home purchases accounted for 17% of all sales. All cash purchases accounted for 32% of all sales. Foreclosures and short sales accounted for 2% of all sales.
Have a great weekend!