(Just The News)—Sales of existing homes declined to the lowest level annually since 1995 while the median price reached a record high of $407,500 last year.
On a monthly basis, sales of existing homes climbed 2.2% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million, the quickest pace since last February, according to most recent figures from the National Association of Realtors.
Total existing-home sales — which includes single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — gained 2.2% from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million in December.
“Home sales in the final months of the year showed solid recovery despite elevated mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Job and wage gains, along with increased inventory, are positively impacting the market.”
Housing inventory at the end of December was 1.15 million units, down 13.5% from November but up 16.2% from one year ago (990,000). Unsold inventory stood at a 3.3-month supply at the existing sales pace, down from 3.8 months in November but up from 3.1 months in December 2023.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in December was $404,400, up 6.0% from one year ago ($381,400).
“The median home price was elevated partly due to the upper-end market’s relative better performance,” Yun said. “Sales rose by 35% from a year ago for homes priced above $1 million, while sales fell for homes priced under $250,000.”
Real median household income was $80,610 in 2023, a 4% increase from the 2022 estimate of $77,540, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the first statistically significant annual increase in real median household income since 2019.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.96% as of Jan. 23, that’s down from 7.04% one week ago but up from 6.69% one year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
