On Tuesday, the housing market showed conflicting signs with growing demand driven by lower interest rates.
Home Depot, the top US home improvement retailer, reported results below expectations in its third-quarter earnings. The company’s challenges stemmed from its initial struggles with online ventures, impacting its financial performance. This setback caused Home Depot to revise its annual forecast downward, affecting the Dow Jones. Home Depot has been focusing on bolstering its online presence to compete with Lowe’s but has not seen a significant increase in sales.
Conversely, home-builders have experienced a positive trend. Lower costs for raw materials supported a rise in housing construction activities in October. Although the growth rate has not entirely met projections, the news is promising. New construction permits have surged to a twelve-year high. Freddie Mac attributes these gains to recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, lowering 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to 3.75%.
