MarketWatch: Weekly Real Estate Update for Riverdale, Bronx – 10/23/2023 – 10/30/2023

Did You Know?

* The personal savings rate, which refers to the share of disposable income that households save, dipped to 3.4% in September from 4% in August (Bureau of Economic Analysis), a significant drop since the pandemic, when the savings rate soared to 32% in April 2020. (Marketwatch)

* Although mortgage rates are expected to remain elevated through 2024, Goldman Sachs said that it expected them to fall just below 7% by the end of 2024. Shares in homebuilder stocks DR Horton, Lennar and NVR have dropped more than 16% since their peak in July as rates continued to rise. Higher rates are not helping housing shortages and won’t fuel more building for sure…..which could mean even higher homeflation down the road? (FT)

* Private credit firms, which manage around $1.6 trillion, are already giving up investor protections to secure larger refinancings, leaving them more vulnerable to higher losses if borrowers default. About $500 billion has been raised for private credit and is sitting idle seeking lending opportunities ….waiting…. (BLOOMBERG)

* About 93% of your well being is determined by your lifestyle choices. 7% is genes. Calorie restriction seems to have the biggest impact on extending longevity. (Buck Institute)

* A new study finds that Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft, and Meta Platformstogether withdrew more than 2 billion cubic meters of freshwater for server cooling and electricity usage in 2022, more than twice Denmark’s total water withdrawal in a year. Maybe we should expect high tech to locate closest to high water supply areas? Besides time, water may be the world’s biggest luxury? (BARRONS)

Courtesy of Stephen Lascher, Wells Fargo