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In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 4th, 2023... another Fed rate hike with an encouraging forecast for the coming months, what Elon Musk is doing with Lennar in Texas, and why real estate agents are embracing an artificial intelligence chatbot called ChatGPT. \xa0 Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. \xa0 Economic News \xa0 We begin with economic news from the past week. The Federal Reserve\u2019s Open Market Committee hiked short-term rates by another quarter point, as expected. That raises the Federal Funds rate to a range of 4.5 to 4.75%. It\u2019s the highest it\u2019s been since October of 2007, and will likely go higher before the Federal Reserve is convinced that inflation is subsiding. During a news conference, Fed Chief Jerome Powell said: \u201cWhile recent developments are encouraging, we will need substantially more evidence to be confident that inflation is on a sustained downward path.\u201d (1) \xa0 Economists are generally seeing at least one or two more quarter point hikes with the possibility of rate cuts after that. The weekly CNBC Fed Survey shows that 82% of participating economists are forecasting another quarter point hike in March as \u201cbaked in\u201d with the possibility of a policy reversal after that, and rate cuts later this year. Only 51% are expecting a recession. That\u2019s down from 60% in recent surveys, but normal projections for a recession are more like 20%. (2) \xa0 Jobless claims dipped again, despite recent layoff announcements. The government says there were 186,000 weekly unemployment applications which is down from 195,000 for the previous week. Ongoing claims were also down about 11,000 to a total of 1.66 million. According to MarketWatch, there has been a gradual increase of continuing claims since last spring which suggests that it\u2019s taking longer for people to find new jobs, but the job market remains tight. (3) \xa0 The latest report on job creation shows that companies added 517,000 new jobs to the market in January while the unemployment rate went from 3.5% to 3.4%. That\u2019s the lowest it\u2019s been since 1969, and reflects the strength of the job market. Economist Sal Guatieri from BMO Capital Markets says of the report: \u201cIt raises serious doubts about the economy slipping into recession and the Fed ending its tightening cycle this spring.\u201d (4) \xa0 Home price growth has slowed for a fifth month in a row. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Schiller national index shows that it fell a seasonally adjusted .6% in November to an annual rate of 9.2%. The 20-city index was down .5% to an annual rate of 8.6%. Of those 20 cities, Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta topped the list for largest year-over-year gains, although prices are also lower in these cities. The only city with a decline in home price growth was Detroit but only by .1%. (5) \xa0 The amount of money spent on construction was down in December. The Commerce Department says it fell a seasonally adjusted .4% to $1.81 trillion. Wall Street economists had expected a flat reading. Single-family construction was down 2.3%. (6) \xa0 Mortgage Rates \xa0 Mortgage rates dropped a bit closer to the 5% range. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was down 4 basis points to 6.09% while the 15-year fell three points, to 5.14%. According to Mortgage News Daily, the average 30-year rate has already dipped below that 6% threshold to 5.99%. The big dip came right after Fed Chief Powell softened his language about inflation after last week\u2019s meeting and rate hike. Freddie says the lower rates will make it possible for as many as three million more people to qualify for a loan. (7) (8) \xa0 In other news making headlines\u2026 \xa0 Elon Musk Partners with Lennar in Texas \xa0 Elon Musk is expanding his footprint in Texas with a community of about 100 workforce homes. He\u2019s teaming up with Lennar to build the homes in the Pflugerville area, north of Austin, where the Boring Company is headquartered. \xa0 The development is being affectionately called \u201cProject Amazing\u201d with some Musk-inspired street names that include: Boring Bulevard, Cutterhead Xing, Porpoise Place and Waterjet Way. (9) \xa0 Real Estate Industry Embraces ChatGPT \xa0 Real estate agents are embracing the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. Business Insider says realtors are using it for emails, property listings, social media posts, and newsletters. \xa0 According to Iowa real estate agent JJ Johannes: \u201cIt\u2019s not perfect but it\u2019s a great starting point.\u201d He says the chatbot uses all the lingo you\u2019d expect to see in a listing like \u201copen floor plan\u201d and \u201crecently updated.\u201d You can also add to the listing after it\u2019s written if you think that details were left out. \xa0 Miami broker Andres Asion offered another example, he was unsuccessful at getting a developer to correct a problem with some windows until he asked ChatGPT to write the email as a legal issue. He says the developer showed up at the owner\u2019s home shortly after that email was sent. \xa0 The artificial intelligence chatbot was introduced to the public just a few months ago. It is currently free to use, but some people are saying they\u2019d gladly pay 100 to $200 a month for access. \xa0 That\u2019s it for today. Check the show notes for links at newsforinvestors.com, and join RealWealth for more information about real estate investing. It\u2019s free to join and get access to all our data including our virtual live event on February 11th. It\u2019s called \u201cWhy You Should Invest in Real Estate in 2023\u201d and features 11 property teams and 1 commercial broker. Once you sign up as a member, it takes about two seconds to register for the event at our website. \xa0 And don\u2019t forget to subscribe to the podcast if you haven\u2019t already, and leave us a review! \xa0 Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke. \xa0 Links: \xa0 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/01/fed-rate-decision-february-2023-quarter-point-hike.html \xa0 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/why-the-case-is-growing-for-a-fed-rate-cut-before-year-end.html \xa0 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-jobless-claims-drop-to-nine-month-low-of-183-000-11675345085?mod=economy-politics \xa0 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-adds-517-000-new-jobs-in-january-in-sign-labor-market-still-strong-11675431419?mod=home-page \xa0 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-home-prices-fall-for-5th-straight-month-in-november-case-shiller-index-shows-11675174667?mod=economy-politics \xa0 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-construction-spending-falls-in-december-11675264823?mod=economic-report \xa0 7 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms \xa0 8 - https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/02/mortgage-rates-five-percent-range-first-time-september.html \xa0 9 - https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/01/30/elon-musk-lennar-plan-workforce-housing-near-boring-co/ \xa0 10 - https://www.businessinsider.com/realtors-using-ai-chatgpt-to-write-property-listings-emails-2023-1