mrgopal

Prashant Gopal is a Bloomberg News housing reporter. Bates College grad. Proud dad. Hoarder of vinyl records. Opinions are my own.

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

This is not promising for the key spring selling season. Mortgage rates are spiking as the war in the Middle East rages on. Homebuyers look for stability and that's a vanishing resource.

https://t.co/vcM4PQF1ek

[Zainab Fattah @ZainabFattah]

Private credit made home flipping look easy. In places like #Florida the risks are finally surfacing.

In Cape Coral, private lenders have started the foreclosure process on 7.4% of the 2,000 #properties they financed in 2023, according to Forecasa.

https://t.co/1Wn0ZfKKGu

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

With rates now at 3-year lows, all eyes are on buyers. “It’s a trade-off between cheaper rates and job insecurity. What remains to be seen for spring of 2026 is which one wins."
https://t.co/vGfB6ft1wF

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

Because I write about the U.S. #housing market for a living, people are always asking about my predictions. Forget that. Here's what smart economists actually think. We surveyed 9 of them. w/@josyanajoshua

https://t.co/KuYP5TsS5B

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

US rental market signaling weakness as job insecurity grows. Boston, a famously tight #apartment market, might be the best example. Desperate landlords are offering up to 3 months free to fill vacancies. w/@bosbizgregryan @business
https://t.co/r232kn7tu7

[Eric Finnigan @EricFinnigan]

Our surveys show incentives are increasing over time, even as the pace of sales has weakened.

Right now, housing weakness isn't just lack of affordability but concern about jobs (and the value of those homes).

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

For the first time, people are paying lower prices for new homes than existing ones. And that's even before the crazy incentives homebuilders are offering now like sub-4% mortgage rates. @business

https://t.co/U9WJpitSV0

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

The biggest drop in mortgage rates in a year is opening up savings for homeowners. On Tuesday, the volume of borrowers locking in rates surged to the highest level for any single day since 2022.
https://t.co/zPY1sVpbCA

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

In the New York City suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut, trophy mansions are shattering sales records. Fearing a market correction, buyers are cashing out equity gains and looking for properties near New York City.
https://t.co/qmBYDUJewi

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

Concerns about property appraisals in Baltimore are rattling a $140 billion lending market — and the fallout risks hitting Wall Street w/@pat_clark
https://t.co/dOn7HHyKV9

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

Home-purchase contracts in the US were canceled at a record rate for July as buyers catch "economic nausea." https://t.co/sKpV8AKWen

[Bloomberg @business]

Trying to buy or sell a house right now? Does it feel impossible? You’re not alone. @sarahsholder breaks down the frozen US market with @mrgopal and @FairweatherPhD on the Big Take podcast.

🎙️ Listen now: https://t.co/LrXRPUyC2K

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

Trump's pressure campaign on Fed Chair Powell to unlock home sales by lowering rates risks doing just the opposite, experts say.  “We want low rates, no one would argue that. It’s just putting pressure on the Fed isn’t the way to do it.”

https://t.co/3fWXgpt5jS

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

The spring was poised for a rebound until President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell sent shock waves through financial markets and pushed house hunters back into hiding. @business

https://t.co/jsFyevHhVV

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

There's no bounce to the spring home sales season this year. In fact, other than the Covid 19 lockdown in 2020, it's the weakest since 2012. @business @Redfin

https://t.co/axcuOwYwwq

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

Homebuyers in Florida are in no rush. There's so much to choose from and now for the first time in a while, prices are falling.

https://t.co/soTpfBbehT

[Mark Zandi @Markzandi]

Here we go on this week’s data storm. The Conference Board consumer confidence survey fell sharply to 86 in April. It is off 19.3 points in the past 3 months. Just shy of the recession threshold of 20. Unless the trade war cools off very (very) soon, recession appears dead-ahead.

[Mark Zandi @Markzandi]

Next week is chock-full of data that will provide a window on the economy's performance and prospects. Up first on Tuesday is the Conference Board consumer confidence survey. When this index falls by more than 20 points in 3 months, recession invariably follows. It was down 17 points through March.

[mrgopal @mrgopal]

The #housing boom is fading. But uncertainty is so high, even top forecasters admit their crystal balls went cloudy after the tariff wars began. “Sometimes your best forecast is to say you don’t have one.” @business w/@Jonnelle @msasso
https://t.co/GEX6afw02w

[Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart]

Just a major blow to the housing market. Not only are yields rising across the board on government bonds, but the extra spread on mortgage backed securities is surging.