Year in Review: 2021

Question of the week: A quick review of 2021?

In January rates were at their lowest for 2021, the conforming 30-year rate was 2.5% for the first five weeks of the year, and the high-balance conforming rate was 2.625%. Mortgage rates were very stable between April and October, during a 25-week stretch the conforming rate was between 2.625-2.75%. In October, and again last week, the conforming rate hit its high for the year at 3.00%; the high-balance rate hit its high for 2021 last week at 3.25%.

With a strong growth in Gross Domestic Product through the year, equity markets experienced significant gains, as evidenced by the 19.93% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. For those with retirement accounts and investments in equities, 2021 created a large growth in wealth.

Housing prices continued their pandemic surge. In California the median home price for a single-family residence grew 11.9% from November 2020 through November 2021. In Los Angeles County, for the same period, the price increase was 14.3%, while across the border median homes rose 23.7%.

With a more competitive jobs market, salaries and wages are on pace to increase almost 5% for the year, however inflation growth at almost 7% has eroded the wage gains.

Looking ahead to 2022, the Federal Reserve has indicated it will use the tools it has available to push rates higher in an effort to stem inflation. How quickly and how fast this occurs will be critical to these moves dampen inflation while not putting a hard brake on economic growth.

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Rates for Friday December 31, 2021: Rates dip back down this week, reversing the bump in rates last week.

FIXED RATE MORTGAGES AT COST OF 1.25 POINTS LOCKED FOR 45 DAYS FOR PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS:

30 year conforming                                         2.875%  Down 0.125%

30 year high-balance conforming                   3.125%  Down 0/125%

Please note that these are base rates and adjustments may be added for condominiums, refinances, credit scores, loan to value, no impound account and period rate is locked. Rates are based on 20% down with 740 FICO score for purchase mortgages.

For myself, and Stratis Financial, I thank everyone for their continued support with your trust in confidence to work with you and your families for your mortgage needs. Also very much appreciated is the further confidence you show when referring us to family, friends and neighbors.

As we move into 2022 at midnight, we do so under the cloudy skies of the latest Covid-19 variant. The “latest,” but not the last as there will be many variants in the future, as they are with most viruses. It appears vaccinations and boosters are working to mitigate the effects of the latest strain, which is very good news in enabling us to live a more “normal” and productive life with the virus present.

Looking to the end of the coming year, it is my hope, and I am sure for most of those reading, that we close out the pandemic regulations and we are able to fully participate in gatherings, small and large, with little to no concern from the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Wishing you and your family a happy, peaceful, and especially healthy 2020.

Have a great week,

Dennis

Past Weekly Rate & Market Updates can be found on my blog page at my website www.DennisCSmith.com/my-blog