What Went Right?

A hyperactive Fed with extremely loose monetary policy and repetitive rounds of QE until it finally ended on March 9th, 2022 the Federal Reserve conducted their final open market purchase.

Mortgage rates ticked up, but that impacted existing home sales more than new home sales.

Lumber costs which soared to the moon crashed back to reality. Having hit a high of nearly $1700 in May of 2021, prices crashed to $400 in January of 2023.

Existing home owners who wanted to move were trapped, unable or unwilling to trade their 3.0 percent mortgage for a 7.0 percent mortgage.

To keep the building game going, homebuilders built smaller homes, bought down mortgage rates, and cut back on luxury items.