Rocket Fuel Newsletter – 12/24/22

close up of male hands with newspaper and coffee

Happy holidays from the Rocket Fuel team! Want a gift that keeps on giving? Name a snow plow! Bonus points if you can beat Snow-Be-Gone Kenobi. 

This week’s edition includes a look back at what made 2022 the year it was, plus some architects with way too much time (and icing) on their hands. 

Fuel Up! 🚀

  • And You Thought Building A Gingerbread House Was Difficult: Over 100 architects from several firms around London have teamed up to create a Gingerbread City that puts all of our gingerbread creations to shame.
  • The Bird Feed Is Where They Get You: PNC released its annual Christmas Price Index (CPI) this week, and unfortunately, the 12 Days of Christmas song is not immune to this year’s rise in inflation. True Love would be set back over $45,000 this year, up 10.5% from last year. Gifts like turtle doves and French hens saw some of the biggest jumps, largely due to the specialty food they require. The good news though: All these swans-a-swimming and calling birds are still the same price as last year ... you just need a place to put seven swans and four calling birds.
  • Choose Your Travel Dates Carefully: According to INRIX data, the worst days to drive during the holidays are December 23, 27, 28 and January 2. Driving on December 25, 31 or January 1 are typically the least congested.

Year In Review

It has been an unprecedented year for the economy and mortgage industry! With a war starting in Ukraine and the highest inflation in 40 years, here are a few things we have seen over the past 12 months. 

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, which has caused turmoil throughout the world. Western countries were quick to sanction Russia for the invasion, targeting their largest import – petroleum – which helped push prices for energy to record highs.📈

These price increases pushed inflation to levels not seen for 40 years. The Federal Reserve has been putting their full focus into lowering inflation, clicking the red button six times in 2022! 

The Federal Reserve increased the Federal Funds rate from 0.25% to 4.5%. This has helped reduce inflation a bit, but the Fed is not finished with cooling the economy down to their 2% goal! With mortgage rates historically moving in congruence with the Federal Funds rate, it comes as no surprise that the average 30-year fixed mortgage is over double from where it was in January 2022! 

Mortgage rates have not been this high since 2008! One pro from these increases is home prices are starting to level off, and the purchase market is starting to transition from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. 📊

It’s been a crazy year in this industry, and we’ll be with you for whatever craziness comes our way next year! 

Fawaz has traveled across the country in 2022, representing Rocket ProSM TPO at partner meetings, conferences and events. Here are a few of his favorite pics from his adventures this year. 

  1. Realtor.com’s 2023 Housing Market Forecast
  2. ATTOM Research Shows Dip In House Flips
  3. NAMB: Nearly 2/3 Of New Homes Are In HOAs
  4. Zillow: Home Values Slipped 0.2% From October To November
  5. NAR October Housing Affordability Index

Did you catch this week’s December to Remember wins? To keep up on all things December to Remember, check out our promotions page: https://www.rocketprotpo.com/promotions/ 

Bryan, Chris V and Josh Wescott all finished last week’s puzzle in less than a minute, and no one was faster than Josh’s 23 seconds, which was nearly half of the second-place time. 

We get festive with this week’s puzzle – it gets 4 Rockets out of 5. Click here to solve! 

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