Slowdown! CoreLogic Home Price Index UP 18.5% YoY In December, But Only 3.5% In 2022 (MBA Applications UP 12% In January) – Confounded Interest

The CoreLogic report on home prices were released yesterday, showing that national home price growth was raging at 18.5% year-over-year (YoY) in December. But the CoreLogic report points to a SLOWDOWN in home price growth in 2022 (Jan 2022 – Dec 2022) of 3.5% YoY.

But the housing market is still blistering hot in January 2022. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) mortgage purchase applications for the week of 1/21-1/28 were UP 11.63% week-over-week (WoW).

Refinancing applications were up 18.4% WoW as fear of Fed monetary tightening grips the mortgage market.

Now, The Fed is expected to raise their target rate 5 times or so over the next year AND slow down asset purchases. Mortgage rates are rising in anticipation of the Fed’s withdrawal of COVID related stimulus.

So, the housing market is expected to slowdown in 2022 as The Fed withdraws its ample monetary stimulus.