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Stock markets – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 44,424.25, up 2.2% from 43,478.83 last week. It is up 4.4% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 6,101.24, up 1.8% from 5,996.96 last week. The S&P is up 3.7% year-to-date. The Nasdaq closed the week at 19,954.39 up 1.7% from 19,630.20 last week. It is up 3.3% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.63% almost unchanged from 4.61% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.85%, unchanged from 4.84% 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 January 16, 2025, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.04%, up from 6.93% last week. The 15-year fixed was 6.27%, up from 6.14% last week. The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.
Home sales data is released on the third week of the month for the previous month by the California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. These are December’s home sales figures. U.S. existing-home sales December 2024 – The National Association of Realtorsreported that existing-home sales totaled 4.24-million units on a seasonal annualized rate in December, up 9.3% from an annualized rate of 3.88-million units last December. The median price for a home sold in the U.S. in November was $404,400, up 6% from $387,800 one year ago. There was a 3.3-month supply of homes for sale in December, up from a 3.1-month supply in December 2023. First-time buyers accounted for 31% of all sales. Investors and second-home purchases accounted for 13% of all sales. All cash purchases accounted for 28% of all sales. Foreclosures and short sales accounted for 2% of all sales. California existing-home sales – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales totaled 268,180 on an annualized basis in December, up 19.8% from a revised 223,900 homes sold on an annualized basis last December. The statewide median price paid for a home in was $861,020 in December, up 5% from $819,820 one year ago. There was a 2.7-month supply of homes for sale in December, up slightly from a 2.6-month supply in December 2023. The graph below lists home sales data by county in Southern California.
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