Weekly Market Commentary - 4.25.22

ECONOMIC REVIEW1 • A slew of housing data released last week illustrating generally strong demand despite continuing supply issues challenging builders and a sharp rise in mortgage rates pushing up median prices. o Existing home sales declined slightly in March, slowing to a 5.77 million annual rate only just exceeding expectations, though the median price rose to $375,300 and is up 15% since last year. • Housing starts and new building permits both increased last month, up 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, both easily beating consensus expectations. o March gains were entirely due to multi-family construction, which is up 26.2% in the past year. Single family construction is down 4.4% over the same period. Read Article