Real estate boom despite interest rate hurdles: US new home sales are picking up

Sales of new homes in the USA recorded a remarkable increase of 5.9% in November compared to the previous month. This is a surprising development, especially in light of the still high mortgage rates, which deter potential homebuyers from entering the real estate market. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue into 2025. Katie Hubbard, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets at Walton Global, discusses with "Catalysts" hosts Brad Smith and Josh Lipton the rising sentiment among home building companies and shares her forecasts on home affordability for the coming year. "Our clients are still offering incentives like mortgage interest reductions, as rates remain high. We do not believe that mortgage rates will fall to 6% before 2026, with the ideal rate being 5.5%," Hubbard said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "The high mortgage rates continue to cause affordability issues on both sides." Learn more expert insights and analyses on the latest market movements at Catalysts.