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Mortgage Rates Trending Lower After 20-Year High

U.S.: Mortgage rates have fluctuated over the past several months but are now down to their most recent lows. Many potential homebuyers have been waiting on the sidelines in recent because of higher home prices in many areas of the country and rising mortgage rates. In October, mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan hit 8%. It was the first time that rates were that high since 2000. But economic data released over the past week helped push those mortgage interest rates down to below 7.5%. And some industry analysts are forecasting rates to continue to drop through the end of the year and, perhaps, into early next year. That could help drive more serious buyers to the marketplace to take advantage of lower borrowing costs at the start of the spring selling season. More economic data will be released early next month. 

DFW: Industrial development continues across DFW and Fort Worth certainly is getting its share of huge projects. Rob Riner Cos. of Fort Worth has been developing a 500-acre parcel southeast of Interstate 20 and Interstate 35W. It’s called Carter Park East and Riner Cos. has plans for two warehouses that stretch over 1 million square feet. That construction will top more than $69 million and is expected to open sometime in 2024. Now, subsidiaries of the developer are looking to build another 1.4-million-square-foot warehouse. That project is estimated to cost more than $63 million and also will open next year. The business park has been under development for several years and is expected to top more than 7 million square feet of industrial space when fully completed. South Fort Worth has more than 5 million square feet of industrial projects in the construction pipeline.

DFW: A country club is coming to the country in a new development in the northern suburb of Celina. The “1876” golf, racquet, swimming and social club will be the anchor to the 3,200-acre Legacy Hills development. The club’s name is linked to the year the town was founded. The project by Centurion American also will include 7,000 single-family homes, more than 4,000 multifamily units and more than 100 acres of mixed-use commercial space. The 18-hole golf course will run along Little Elm Creek and is expected to open by late 2024. This development marks a similar project that has a golf course as the main attraction for surrounding residential areas. The PGA of America’s golf courses will be the centerpieces of several residential projects in Frisco.

DFW: And northeast of Dallas, another rental community is in the works. Canopy Homes at Woodcreek will be the latest homes-built-for-rent project with a 105-unit development in the Rockwall County community of Fate. With 20,000 residents, Fate is one of the fastest-growing cities in the area. Single-family rental home developments are proliferating across the Metroplex, one of the country’s leaders for such projects. More than 4,000 single-family rental homes were under construction through the second quarter of the year. The Canopy Homes development will be located north of Interstate 30 on Crawford Avenue, just under 30 miles from Dallas. PMB Capital, which has developed several thousand residential homebuilding parcels, is behind this latest project. 

NEW ENGLAND: You may not be able to get it for a song, but Stephen Sondheim’s country estate in New England is up for sale. The 9-acre property in picturesque Roxbury, Connecticut, has been listed for $3.25 million. The Broadway composer, who died in 2021, had lived on the property for about 40 years. The three-bedroom, 3.5-bath main home was built more than 230 years ago. Yes, it was renovated several times, but still has wide plank wood floors and stone fireplaces. Vaulted ceilings, a chef’s kitchen, a formal living room and lots of windows throughout the home provide beautiful views of the property, especially when the leaves are turning color in the fall. There’s also a two-car garage, a pool, and a one-bedroom pool house. The eight-time Tony winner is known for numerous works, including “West Side Story,” “Into the Woods” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

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