Last but not least!
We have about a week or so left to put together and close deals in 2023. Everyone should be beating the bushes and shaking the trees to take advantage of the opportunities available and the ability to exercise your speed advantage to help those who really need to get things done before the year ends. It is also a great time to keep having all of those conversations that can continue to show your abilities as others around you have to sit on the sidelines and wait for 2024!
A solid week in the bond market and rates continue to improve slowly but surely. We saw a continuation of weaking jobs numbers this week as the ADP numbers were significantly below expectations and if supported by today’s initial and continuing claims numbers will set the stage for Friday’s BLS jobs report for November. I expect that the economy is showing signs of weakness as more and more the consumer is running out of ability to just keep accumulating debt as they deal with higher debt loads. There was also a slowdown in the number of people leaving their old jobs for newer and improved opportunities. Once again, this could be the consumer trying to get into a more stable situation or possibly a lack of confidence in the future.
Mortgage applications were up by 2.8% in the last week and refinances led the way, seeing a 13.9% increase, and are just 10% under what they were at the same time last year. While I don’t see a coming refinance boom soon, refinances are one way the consumer is trying to stabilize their monthly cash flow as they deal with high credit card balances and the return of student loan payments.
Congratulations to those who have really pushed hard these past few weeks to set up a really strong December closing schedule and help build a solid pipeline for January! You trusted that the effort would be worth it, and it really paid off as you were ready and prepared to do the deals the others didn’t see coming! One more week to drive it all home, and then close the loans and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
I am looking to add one or two new teams (depending on size) to the program. If you are interested, please feel free to reach out and we can schedule a call to discuss your needs and budget. [email protected]
