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Economic update for the week ending April 24, 2021

Stocks markets ended the week slightly lower – After weeks of record gains investors took profits and stocks closed just slightly off last week’s record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 34,043.49, down 0.46% from 34,200.67 last week. It is up 11.1% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 4,180.17, down 0.14% from 4,185.87 last week. It is up 11.3% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 14,016.81, down up 0.26% from 14,052.34 last week. It is up 8.7% year-to-date.

U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.58%, almost unchanged from 1.59% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.25%, almost unchanged from 2.26% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.

Mortgage rates – The April 22, 2021, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.97%, down from 3.04% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.29%, down from 2.35% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.83%, almost unchanged from 2.80% last week.

U.S. home sales and prices – March 2021 – The National Association of Realtors reported that the number of existing-home sales rose 12.35% in March from the number of sales in March 2020. The median price paid for a home in March rose 17.25% from the median price one year ago. That marked 109 straight month of year over year increases in the median price. Inventory levels totaled 28.2% fewer homes on the market than one year ago. There was just a 2.1 month supply of homes for sale, down from a 3.3 month supply last March. First time buyers accounted for 32% of the home sales. Second home (vacation home) and investor purchases accounted for 15% of the sales. Foreclosure and short sales accounted for less than 1% of sales.

Have a great weekend!

Matthew Paul