Yes, an uptick, a reversal from last month's decline, but a pretty small one here. Is that an improvement? Is the trend getting better? How are you seeing this?

All the major housing indicator this morning is essentially no change. Home sales, about the same as one year ago, about the same as one month ago. Home prices increased only 1%. So homeowners are doing fine, but it's a small gain. Inventory, which is critical, we need to see about 30 or 40% boost in inventory. What do we get? Well, only 1% increase in inventory.

But uh, you know, mortgage rate is the big driver, affordability is a big driver. So if the affordability can improve, we know incomes is out pacing home price growth. mortgage rate, uh even with the oil price shock, it is lower now compared to one year ago. So maybe the improving in affordability will bring more buyers into the market.

Well, you need more sellers in the market though, Lawrence, isn't that, isn't that the trick here? To your point about about um inventory, what is going to unlock that?

We need to have a more supply. Uh we know we have heard about the lock in effect of people who have 3%, 4% mortgage rate, but the lock effect is beginning to loosen up. people are finding new job at different location or maybe some major changes in household formation, you know, divorces, uh marriages that happen. So we do see some movement of people giving up their low interest rate, but maybe we are beginning to say face a new lock-in effect from capital gains tax.

Uh we know about the large capital gains exemption for sellable home. Uh so for most American, they sell their home and the profit is for the homeowner. But now with a strong increase in home prices that has happened in recent years, more Americans, more homeowners are beginning to face capital gains tax and they're saying, well, I'm not going to list my property if that is the case. So we are beginning to see more people getting locked in on that capital gains tax potential.

Rates have come down to your point from a year ago. We're below 7%, but they're not they haven't come down more, they've kind of like stalled out, right? They're still above 6%. So, is that still the log jam? Like what is the thing that needs to change?

Nationwide, the statistics is not moving, but if we look at specific metro market, we are beginning to see some movements. in areas where they are seeing abundant inventory along with a consistent job edition. So if you look at some of the Rocky Mountain states, I'd say like places like Salt Lake City, Boise, Idaho, along with say Raleigh, North Carolina that research triangle region and South Florida, Miami is getting a lot of action. They have plentiful inventory, more job creation.

So we are beginning to see more home sales activity beginning to take up in these market, which also attest to the point that we need to consistently build more home, bring more supply. Uh and if we do that, you know, we'll get more transaction. New home construction, new home sales are essentially back to their pre-covid activity and whether they are building smaller size home or building in farther away from the major city center where lands are more affordable, the median home median price of a newly constructed home is now much lower than existing home.

And consequently, we are seeing sales beginning to rise in the new home sector. But we do need more supply, more home construction.