Apologies to Steve Martin. We were hoping that 2021 would not be as wild and crazy as 2020. Yet the first few days of January was anything but calm. We started with spikes of COVID-19 as holiday gatherings and the cold weather provided ideal conditions for spreading the virus.
The first trading day of the year, the Dow Jones stock average fell almost 400 points after being down 500 points earlier in the day. We then moved into two hotly contested Georgia Senate races in which control of the Senate lay in the balance. The result we thought was a split Congress which could cause more of the gridlock we witnessed at the end of 2020, but the surprise of the Georgia Senate elections placed us at least somewhat toward another direction.
The very next day, in what is usually a perfunctory function of Congress — the tabulation of electoral votes turned into total chaos — with the storming of the Capitol, objections and other forms of challenges. Starting the new year with the National Guard being called out in DC, sounded a lot like 2020. The good news in all this chaos? Interest rates have remained near historic lows which will translate into more opportunities to purchase or refinance real estate this winter. Hopefully, rates will hold close to where they are—but again, thus far it has been a wild and crazy year.
Dave Hershman is the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School. Want to send this commentary and other news in a personalized format to your sphere database or on social media? Sign up for a free trial at www.OriginationPro.com.