Today's top story: Interest rates are up! No, they're down! Which is it?

Hi everybody, Joe Hillner with Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, where we guarantee the sale of your home or I'll buy it!

Ok, so every week, I share market data to keep you informed with the local real estate market.

Here is this week’s Boca Market Watch.

First, Single Family Homes:

This past week, 51 new listings, that's decent, and ranging in price from $450K to $17.5M! 14 homes back on the market, while 61 homes listed took a price decrease, and 6 sellers raised their asking price. And a slightly better week, with 38 different properties under contract, and 26 going pending. 26 homes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired outright And a little better week with 37 homes sold, ranging from $390K to $4.5M!

Next up, Condos and Townhomes:

73 new listings, not bad, and ranging from $125 Grand to $3.8 Million. 13 units came back on the market, 79 properties with a price decrease, and 7 sellers with an increase. And a little better week with 44 different properties under contract, and 42 going pending! 47 condos or townhomes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired. 49 closed sales this week, not good, and ranging in price from $130K to $1.4M.

Here's what's making news right now.

The Federal Reserve increased the interest rate it charges banks on Wednesday. The rate went up 25 basis points, as expected, to a range of 4.50% - 4.75%, which is the highest it has been since 2007.


The Fed's leader, Chairman Powell, is determined to stop prices from going up too fast. He thinks that interest rates will need to go up a little more in order to keep prices under control, but he also said that he might lower the rate later this year if prices start to go down faster than expected. Fearing worse, investors generally would be pleased if additional rate hikes were limited to just 50 basis points.

Last Friday, a report showed that the economy added a lot more jobs than people expected in January. There were 517,000 new jobs, which is stunning. The consensus forecast was for 185,000 new jobs, so that actual number was almost triple! The report also showed that people's paychecks are getting bigger, which could lead to prices going up. The Fed wants more jobs to be created, but without paychecks going up too fast, so that prices don't get too high.


Another report showed that there are a massive 11 million job openings right now! People are quitting their jobs to ante up, which are signs that the job market is very strong. Many of you know that I'm a triathlete in my spare time, so swimming is something I do a lot of. The Deerfield Aquatic Center has been closed for a long time now while they redo the pool. We just learned that the project has been delayed another 4-5 months because the entire construction crew quit and took higher paying jobs in Miami! Sign of the times, I guess...