TheStreet’s J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close for trading Wednesday, March 27.
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J.D. Durkin: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
Thursday March 28th marks the final trading day of the month, and all three major indexes are on pace to finish both the month and the first quarter in positive territory. Many analysts on Wall Street Have recently boosted their 2024 price targets for the S&P 500.
In other news - it’s only getting worse for prospective homebuyers. New data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index revealed that home prices rose by 6 percent year-over-year in January. That’s the highest annual increase since 2022. The report said all cities saw year-over-year increases for the second consecutive month and that prices continue to set new all-time highs.
Among the factors adding skyrocketing prices are historically low inventory and elevated mortgage rates. Despite rates continuing to drop from a high of roughly 8 percent in 2023, they still sit at 6.87 percent according to Freddie Mac data. And while they’re expected to drop lower throughout 2024 - it’ll still be cheaper for most Americans to rent instead of buy.
According to Realtor.com’s most recent rental report, rent in the country’s 50 largest cities is still cheaper than paying a mortgage. The average cost of buying a starter home in those cities was over $1,000 more expensive than renting in one. Austin, Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles were the top five cities with the largest rent versus buy savings.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
