MarketWatch: Weekly Real Estate Update for Riverdale, Bronx – 9/16/2024 – 9/23/2024

Did You Know?

* AMAZON occupies more than 65 million square feet in more than 60 countries today….less than a quarter of WALMART whose International’s sales area amounted to about 273 million square feet as of 2023.

* South Dakota, Vermont, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Kansas and West Virginia salaries grew the most between 2022 and 2023, all over 10% and higher than the rate of inflation.

* Imagine if your utility bills went to zero…. A big increase in wind and solar power has pushed wholesale prices in The Netherlands to zero or below for many hours of the year, spurring a sea change in the way people use power—based on whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. 

Most people pay a fixed price for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they consume throughout the day. The price is set by their power company and only changes at infrequent intervals—once a week, a month or even only once a year. In the U.S., most states don’t currently allow such real-time pricing, but many think that will change. Already, in some of the world’s biggest economies from Western Europe to California, the occurrence of zero and negative wholesale power prices is growing fast. Electricity from Walmart….or Amazon? Walmart’s community solar projects are expected to produce 160,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power about 13,000 households. Amazon’s portfolio of solar and wind projects is expected to generate 77,000 gigawatt hours of clean energy annually,  enough to power 7.2 million US homes. Amazon’s portfolio includes over 500 projects in more than 20 US states and 27 countries. (WSJ)

Mortgage Rate Updates

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 6.09% as of September 19th, reaching its lowest level since early February 2023, according to Freddie Mac. This decline coincides with the Federal Reserve’s initiation of its rate-cutting cycle, which began with a larger-than-expected reduction of 50 basis points, the first decrease since 2020. In the same period last year, the rate on a 30-year benchmark mortgage was 7.19%. “Mortgage rates continued declining towards the six percent mark, reviving purchase and refinance demand for many consumers,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “While mortgage rates do not directly follow moves by the Federal Reserve, this first cut in over four years will have an impact on the housing market. Declining mortgage rates over the last several weeks indicate this cut was mostly baked in, but rates will likely fall further, sparking more housing activity.”.

Source: Freddie Mac