The Government is Going Broke, Saied's Favorite Curves and a Vacation

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales of previously owned homes declined 5.9% in October from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the weakest rate since May 2020. October sales fell 28.4% from a year earlier, the biggest annual decline since February 2008. Home sales have been dropping each month since February. From their recent peak in January, existing-home sales have dropped about 32%. The slowdown is due to a rapid increase in borrowing rates. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage began to climb rapidly in the first quarter and rose above 7% earlier this month. Mortgage rates eased this week but are still more than double where they stood a year ago.

In today's episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied dive into these numbers to help you understand what they mean for the economy and the fight against inflation.

They play a game of 'What if?', trying to determine the effect on the market, both short and long term, if the Fed funds rate were to reach 10%.

Chris and Saied discuss the concept of a yield curve inversion and why it matters to the economy.

They also discuss a recent report indicating that the city of San Francisco could lose up to $200 million in property tax revenue by 2028 as record office vacancies, fueled by remote work and uncertainty in the tech industry.

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• Why banks are pulling back on lending to both households and businesses.
• Why the yield curve inversion is an indicator of a future recession.
• How long it actually takes to get a real estate license.
• The reasons why US home sales have fallen for the ninth straight month.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Did Bullard Undershoot? Stifel Economists Say Fed Funds Rate May Need to Go to 8% or Even 9%." (article from Barron's)

"U.S. Home Sales Fell for Ninth Straight Month in October" (article from The Wall Street Journal)

"37% of real estate agents in the US couldn't afford to pay their rent in October — another bad sign for the housing market. Here are 3 key takeaways for sellers right now" (article from Yahoo! Finance)

"SF could lose up to $200M in property tax revenue" (The Real Deal via Instagram)

"Bob Iger returns as Disney CEO, replacing Bob Chapek after a brief, tumultuous tenure" (article from CNBC)