Interest Rates

Metro Denver’s housing market faced a second year of tough sledding in 2023, with both closings and the dollar value of transactions down by about 18% compared to 2022, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. Last year, the number of closings fell by 20.8%, but the value of transactions was down a smaller 12%, because of home prices rising in the first half of that year. Despite the headwinds from much higher mortgage rates, which approached 8%, home prices didn’t drop as many buyers had hoped they would.…

Coloradan taxpayers can each expect an extra $800 back when they file their state income tax returns early next year, state officials said Wednesday. The refund is based on revenue collected above the cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, the state constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1992 to limit the growth of government. Unlike in 2022, when taxpayers received a check in the mail, people will collect the money through their tax filings in the form of higher refunds or reduced tax bills. Overall,…

Karandeep Anand Contributor Karandeep Anand is president of Brex, the AI-powered global corporate spend platform with cards, expense management, payments, and travel, all in one place. Anand previously served as Brex’s chief product officer, helping the company develop and launch its flagship AI product, Brex Assistant, as well as the launch of Empower, Brex’s spend management platform for modern companies, from startups to enterprises. Interest rates…

Lower mortgage rates motivated some buyers to get busy last month, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the seasonal slowdown seen this time of year in metro Denver’s housing market, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. Buyers closed on 2,664 homes and condos last month, a 15.9% drop from the 3,169 homes sold in October. November closings were down 14% year-over-year and through the first 11 months of 2023, with the overall sales volume is down by nearly a fifth. Properties took longer…

Colorado’s unemployment rate continued to tick up, and private-sector hiring turned negative again last month, according to an update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on Friday. Employers in the state added 1,500 net new jobs last month, but governments did the heavy lifting, adding 1,700 jobs. One of the biggest surprises in the report came in downward revisions to September job counts, which turned an initial gain of 1,500 jobs into a decline of 100. “The weak data for October was not a surprise;…

Potential homebuyers attend an open house in Seattle.Mike Kane | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesCurrent homeowners and potential homebuyers are responding to lower mortgage rates, albeit slowly.Mortgage demand rose 2.8% last week, compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. That was the second straight week of gains.After dropping sharply the previous week, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or…

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty ImagesAccess to personal cars remains important to Americans despite the growing monthly cost of ownership. The average monthly auto payment reached $733, a new record, in the second quarter of the year, according to a report by auto site Edmunds.Seventy-eight percent of middle-income households earning between $47,000 to $142,000 rely on a vehicle to get to work, Santander Bank found in a new survey, and 74% are willing to make financial tradeoffs to maintain access to cars. For instance,…

The central bank calls cap on government bond yields a reference point, not a rigid limit. The central bank calls cap on government bond yields a reference point, not a rigid limit. FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS Read original article here Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and…

One reason the economy keeps humming: A huge chunk of consumer debt still carries low rates, including mortgages and auto loans made before 2022. One reason the economy keeps humming: A huge chunk of consumer debt still carries low rates, including mortgages and auto loans made before 2022. FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS Read original article here Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All…

The euro fell against the dollar as President Christine Lagarde said the central bank was keeping an open mind on its next rate call. The euro fell against the dollar as President Christine Lagarde said the central bank was keeping an open mind on its next rate call. FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS Read original article here Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their…