And to be honest, I didn't have to scour much, as a good friend of mine is a brilliant up and comer in the world of real estate in Philadelphia. I've worked with her several times and have known her for years - she's insightful, pragmatic, conscientious and has a serious pulse on the industry. I know for a fact that she works her ass off, eating, sleeping and breathing real estate on the daily.

As such, my kind friend, award-winning realtor Kira Mason, has agreed to drop in once in a while to offer up her take on the pulse of the industry for benefit of my readers. Kira runs the Substack Gritty City Real Estate, which you can read & follow free here and she is @kmasonrealtor on Twitter.

Kira's first exclusive post for Fringe Finance readers was last week's piece on how quickly the real estate market is deteriorating: "Change Is Afoot": Home Buyers "Shocked" By Rates, Sellers Lament Price Plunges

Kira's Housing Market Predictions for 2023

Let's start with something we can all agree on: housing is in the midst of a major slowdown. Existing home sales are falling faster than they did during the great financial crisis of the mid to late aughts, and mortgage interest rates have just about doubled since the start of the year and are now flirting with 7%.