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Realtor.com® 2024 Forecast Update: Mortgage Relief is Finally on the Way

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Buoyed by a Strong U.S. Economy, For Sale Inventory and the Existing Home Median Sales Price are Now Expected to Close 2024 with Year-Over-Year Gains, at 14.5% and 4.6%, respectively 

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Home price growth and inventory are now predicted to end the year with year-over-year gains, according to the Realtor.com® 2024 Forecast Update. For sale inventory is forecasted to see the biggest change as home sellers patiently wait for buyers instead of delisting. Existing home median sales price is forecasted to increase year-over-year despite elevated mortgage rates, rising inventory, and homes sitting on the market longer.

“During the first half of this year, we have seen home buyers continue to remain sensitive to mortgage rates, and while home sellers are also affected, the binds of the mortgage rate lock-in effect appear to be loosening for some homeowners,” said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “These trends mean that home sales in 2024 will eke out only a small gain over 2023, but homebuyers have a fair amount to look forward to in the latter part of the year. Mortgage rates have finally begun to ease, and this trend is expected to continue as improving inflation enables the Fed to relax its tight policy, boosting homebuyer purchasing power. Furthermore, gains in the number of homes for sale mean that buyers have more negotiating power than they have had in recent years which should help buyers and sellers find the middle ground necessary for more sales. Fall has historically been a shoulder season for the housing market that benefits flexible buyers, and this year is setting up to be even more advantageous.”

Lower Rates Finally Arrive
Earlier this month, mortgage rates dropped to their lowest rate since May 2023 and recent data trends, especially relating to job growth and unemployment are providing evidence that Fed policy is working–perhaps working overtime–and a rate cut, even a large one, may be appropriate. Therefore, our forecast for mortgage rates has been revised slightly lower. Our yearly mortgage rate average forecast is slightly lower at 6.7%, and we revised our year-end forecast to 6.3% from 6.5%.

Annual Home Sales Rebound-ish
Despite affordability headwinds persisting and mortgage rates hindering buying power, we have revised home sales upwards marginally to 4.1 million – an annual increase of .08%. Although there has been more inventory than expected, high mortgage rates this spring which coincided with the peak of the homebuying season had a dampening effect on home sales. For example, this June’s Existing Home Sales dropped to 3.89M, the lowest level in 6 months. The arrival of lower mortgage rates will help draw homebuyers back into the housing market, but with a short runway left in 2024 and a sluggish first half to overcome, home sales are unlikely to take off.

Home Sale Prices Continue to Climb
Despite elevated mortgage rates, rising inventory, and homes sitting on the market longer, sales prices continue to rise. As a result, we’ve revised our initial forecast of a small price decline of 1.7% in 2024 to a rise of 4.6%. This significant revision reflects a resilient U.S. economy and a housing market that is still more broadly undersupplied despite recent upticks in inventory. What’s more, the nation’s largest housing markets remain a competitive marketplace and sellers still have the edge, though it has dulled over the past few years with higher rates. Of the 50 largest markets we track, only 12 are back to or above their pre-pandemic inventory levels.

Mortgage Lock-In Effect is Easing Aiding Inventory Woes
One of the factors that has hampered home sales – an under-supply of homes for sale – has finally started to ease. We have seen substantial improvement in inventory in the first half of 2024, climbing by more than 35% on a year-over-year basis. This is in stark contrast to our initial 2024 forecast that inventory would be down by 14%. Our revised estimate – the largest adjustment in our forecast – is now that inventory will be up 14.5%. Our revision reflects two somewhat unanticipated market developments this spring. First, some sellers who postponed their decision to sell last year – hoping that mortgage rates would be lower this spring were spurred to action by the better-than-expected mortgage rates at the start of 2024. Second, sellers who have put their home on the market seem willing to wait for a buyer rather than delisting, leading to longer time on market and inventory accumulating at a higher rate than expected. 

The NAR Settlement and Election are Wildcards, But Housing Policy May Not Be So Wild
In the coming months, two major events are noteworthy, though their impact on the housing market could vary. The impact of the NAR commission settlements on the market and home prices are a wildcard and will depend equally on macroeconomic conditions and industry and consumer adaptations, with any changes likely to occur gradually over time. At the same time, we don’t expect the wildcard election year to be that wild on the economy or housing market in 2024 since both the Republican and Democratic candidates have served in the White House recently. Markets should be able to handle whomever is elected, though acknowledging that the closer the race, the tougher it is to predict the outcome, which can spark volatility.

Rents Remain Largely Steady
Rents have remained largely steady in 2024 as the tug of war between rising multi-family completions boosting rental supply and elevated rental demand has resulted in a nationwide stalemate. We see demand from new households and continuing renters who might like to buy a home but find that today’s rent versus buy scales are tipped too far in favor of renting, but rental supply has kept up as builders work through the backlog of multi-family units under construction.

Housing Indicator

Realtor.com 2024 Forecast REVISED

Realtor.com 2024 Forecast (Nov. 2023)

2023 Historical Data

Mortgage Rates

Average 6.7% throughout the year, 6.3% by end of year

Average 6.8% throughout the year, 6.5% by end of year

Average 6.8%, 6.6% at end of year

Existing Home Median Sales Price Appreciation

+4.6 %

-1.7 %

+1.1 %

Existing Home Sales

+0.8%

4.1 million

+0.1%

4.07 million

-18.7%

4.09 million

Existing Home For-Sale Inventory

+14.5 %

-14.0 %

Single-Family Home Housing Starts

+10.5%

1.0 million

+0.4%

0.9 million

-5.0%

0.9 million

Homeownership Rate

65.5 %

65.8 %

65.9 %

Rent Change

-0.5 %

-0.2 %

+11.8 %

About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today’s on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com®.

Media Contact: Mallory Micetich, press@realtor.com

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/realtorcom–2024-forecast-update-mortgage-relief-is-finally-on-the-way-302221606.html

SOURCE Realtor.com

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Softbank and NewPhotonics Announce Collaboration on Advanced Photonics Technology for LPO, CPO and All-Optics Switch Fabric Targeting AI-RAN

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Collaboration Agreement Targets Next Generation Data Centers vRAN to Fronthaul with All-Optical Transmission and Switching  

FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SoftBank Corp. (‘SoftBank’) and NewPhotonics LTD (‘NewPhotonics’), a leader in advanced integrated photonics, today announced a joint research and development collaboration to advance photonics technologies for LPO (Linear-drive Pluggable Optics), CPO (Co-packaged Optics), and All-Optics Switch Fabric. This photonics-electronics convergence technology with high-speed optical communication and Optical Switching Technology enables low latency and low power consumption in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure. The technologies support SoftBank in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with NewPhotonics patented technologies coupled with its photonics integrated chip (PIC) for reliable all-optics communication and optical fabric switching.

Targeting improved performance of GPU/CPU/switch fabric with PIC and low latency optical connectivity, the technology will also address power consumption and capacity bottlenecks in AI cluster workloads based on high-speed optical communication and optical switching technology. The patented NewPhotonics optical SerDes (serializer/deserializer) will enable higher density and low latency data transfer in mobile fronthaul and data center. 

Co-packaged advanced optical technologies deliver improved speed and energy efficiency crucial in data center re-designs underway for high performance compute and vector processing applications. In addition, the LPO technology realized by incorporating the NewPhotonics PIC into the optical transceiver enables long-distance transmission greater than existing LPO technology. Applying NewPhotonics LPO technology to mobile fronthaul is expected to reduce processing delays, reduce power consumption, and extend distances of data transport equipment.  

Ryuji Wakikawa, Head of SoftBank Research Institute of Advanced Technology, said:  

“We believe this partnership with NewPhotonics is necessary for next generation infrastructure. By collaborating, we envision a transformation in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with optical-electronics convergence technologies that enhances speed, distance limit, capacity, and, most importantly, leads to sustainability gains giving SoftBank a significant advantage and market leadership.”  

Yaniv Ben Haim, CEO of NewPhotonics added, “Our new collaboration agreement with Softbank marks a significant milestone for our company and the industry to advance optical interconnect technology in CPO and pluggable that address the needs of modern compute and AI infrastructure. We remain committed to breaking the limits of optical communication with lowered latency and power at scalable distances. This partnership exemplifies our confidence in the impact of all-optical connectivity on the future of AI and 6G with our patented photonics innovations.” 

About Softbank 

Guided by the SoftBank Group’s corporate philosophy, “Information Revolution – Happiness for everyone,” SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) operates telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally. Building on its strong business foundation, SoftBank Corp. is expanding into non-telecom fields in line with its “Beyond Carrier” growth strategy while further growing its telecom business by harnessing the power of 5G/6G, IoT, Digital Twin and Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) solutions, including High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS)-based stratospheric telecommunications. While constructing AI data centers and developing homegrown LLMs specialized for the Japanese language with one trillion parameters, SoftBank is applying AI to enhance radio access network performance (AI-RAN) with the aim of becoming a provider of next-generation social infrastructure. To learn more, please visit https://www.softbank.jp/en/ 

About NewPhotonics 

NewPhotonics is a fabless semiconductor company based in Tel Aviv Israel is designing, developing, and manufacturing photonic integrated circuits (PIC) that break the limits of optical connectivity and processing for a new all-optics paradigm in networking and compute data transmission. Founded in 2020, NewPhotonics is privately held and funded. For more information visit www.newphotonics.com

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
press.relations@newphotonics.com
+972 3 614-3147

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Webull’s Group President visited Asia-Pacific, where its assets under management has grown by more than 100%

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SINGAPORE, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Group President of Webull Corporation, a leading digital investment platform, Anthony Denier, recently concluded a visit to the Asia-Pacific, or APAC, region. This trip underscores Webull’s growth in the APAC region and its ongoing commitment to expanding its footprint in the region. Building on Webull’s success in the U.S. market, Webull entered Hong Kong SAR in 2020, followed by expansions into Singapore and Australia in 2022. In 2023, Webull entered Japan and Indonesia and most recently in 2024, Malaysia and Thailand. As of 31st July 2024, Webull has achieved a remarkable year-over-year (YoY) growth rate of 100% in its assets under management (AUM) within the APAC region.

“We are incredibly proud of Webull’s rapid expansion in the APAC region. Since we entered APAC in 2020, we have seen a steady increase in our user base, with investors leveraging Webull’s trading tools to develop comprehensive and diversified investment portfolios across the U.S. and APAC markets. In the next two years, Webull aims to be a top broker-dealer in every region, and we remain committed to developing innovative solutions that will allow us to grow significantly while ensuring trading remains accessible and affordable for all retail investors,” said Mr. Denier.

Strong American genes, deeply rooted in the global market

Launched in the U.S. in 2018, Webull has since expanded its reach to the APAC region, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, achieving over 40 million downloads globally and surpassing 20 million registered users. In 2023, Webull saw a YoY increase of 38% in customer assets, reaching a value of US$8.2 billion. For the full year of 2023, the equity notional volumes of U.S. stock trades, reflecting platform user trading activity, reached US$371 billion, and the number of options contracts traded reached 430 million. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Webull achieved a user retention rate of 98%. These performances are a result of the positive trading experience for users and the trust they have in Webull.

Already one of the leading digital brokerages in the U.S., Webull continues to strengthen its presence across 13 global markets. Its strong foundation in the U.S. allows Webull to serve as a key gateway for local investors in APAC to access the U.S. market.  In addition, Webull is committed to providing both the tools and knowledge needed to empower investors to better navigate the investing world, making Webull a trusted brokerage amongst local investors.

Stable growth of Webull Singapore, catering to needs of local investors

Since the launch of Webull Singapore in 2022, the firm has experienced a surge in user signups, a testament to its growing popularity among investors. As the firm continues to establish its presence in Singapore, Webull has also rolled out various new features and services, such as the recent release of overnight U.S. stock trading for local investors, allowing investors to trade various US stocks and ETFs regardless of time zones.

Recognising that retail investors today are keen to build a more diversified portfolio due to greater market volatility and geopolitical tensions, in January of this year, Webull Singapore launched SGX-listed products and securities offerings on its trading platform, providing local investors with access to more than 1,000 SGX-listed stocks, REITs, DLCs, and ETFs. For investors that are more risk adverse, Webull Singapore also offers local investors access to 430 mutual funds from various fund houses, as well as wealth management tools like Moneybull, a cash management product, and Regular Savings Plan to help investors effectively manage and grow their wealth.

To remain at the forefront of the digital brokerage landscape in Singapore, Webull continues to offer investors low commission fees with no platform fees[1] for investors trading US stocks and ETFs, Hong Kong stocks and ETFs, and A-shares stocks and ETFs. For investors trading Singapore stocks and ETFs, Webull offers low commission and platform fees (0.025% x Total Trade Amount, Min SGD 0.80), with an ongoing campaign that offers 3-year commission-free[2] for Singapore stock trading. Aligned with Webull’s promise to educate investors and promote financial literacy amongst retail investors, investors using the Webull platform also gain access to a number of trading tools as well as level 2 advanced US market data to help them make informed decisions.

As Webull expands its presence in Singapore, Webull remains focused on fostering innovation and enhancing user experience as it strives to be the preferred brokerage for investors looking to invest in the U.S. as well as local markets.

“Since we entered the Singapore market in 2022, we have witnessed a strong uptrend in our user base within a short two-year span. Investors in Singapore continue to seek attractive yields for their investments and Webull Singapore will strive to develop better, more innovative products and tools that will cater to the evolving needs of Singapore investors,” added Jonathan Man, Chief Executive Officer of Webull Singapore.  

To learn more about Webull’s products and services, please visit the website: https://www.webull.com.sg/

[1]The rate of 0 is subject to change at Webull’s discretion and is valid until updated

[2]Terms and conditions apply. For details, please refer to Webull’s website at https://www.webull.com.sg/, the Webull App or the campaign’s terms and conditions.

About Webull

Webull is a leading digital investment platform built on next generation global infrastructure. The Webull Group is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida and backed by private equity investors located in the United States, Europe and Asia. With over 40 million downloads globally, the company is operational in 15 regions and provides retail investors with 24/7 access to global financial markets. Users can put investment strategies to work by trading global stocks, ETFs, options and fractional shares, through Webull’s trading platform. With low-cost trading on a wide range of assets, Webull is revolutionizing the way individuals approach investing. Learn more at https://www.webullcorp.com/.

All investments involve risks and are not suitable for every investor. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

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SOURCE Webull Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

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REPT BATTERO WENDING 564Ah Energy Storage Cell and Powtrix energy storage system officially launched at RE+2024

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IRVINE, Calif, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In an eventful week, REPT BATTERO officially opened its first North American subsidiary office on September 9 in Irvine, CA before showcasing new products and solutions at the nearby RE+ 2024 Exposition. At RE+, the company formally launched its WENDING 564Ah battery cell and the Powtrix energy storage system to deliver safer and more efficient solutions fo the global green energy transformation.

WENDING 564Ah: Over Four-Hour Duration and Upgraded Functions

The 564Ah battery cell adopts REPT BATTERO’s groundbreaking “WENDING” 2.0 technology, which delivers high energy efficiency, high consistency, zero attenuation, and an extended lifespan by applying Double-High Electrode technology.

The 564Ah battery cell applies WENDING structural design that improves JR tab bending and length. With this optimized structure, we have improved the internal space utilization rate by 5%, reduced the DCIR by 16%, therefore the cell energy efficiency can reach 96.4%. In addition, the WENDING 564Ah battery adopts double-high electrode technology, which improves the ion migration rate by 30%. Through the development of a new process, REPT breaks through the mass production problems of pre-lithiation technology which mitigates the attenuation significantly, reduces the loss of lithium ion at the very first charging and increase the efficiency and energy density of batteries.

The WENDING 564Ah batteries are also specially developed to meet the requirement for long-term energy storage of more than 4 hours, a 10,000+ cycle life and 25-30 years of durability. Moreover, WENDING 564Ah batteries have solved the problems of thermal runaway and over-charging that are generally prone to occur in large-capacity batteries, providing users with a safe, high-efficiency, and reliable product use experience.

Powtrix:Multiple Guarantees for BESS Security

The Powtrix energy storage system further enhances the 20-foot container battery system. Based on WENDING 564Ah batteries, the Powtrix system can meet the global growing demand for long-term energy storage  application requirements. Powtrix systems can have an installed capacity of more than 6MWh on the DC side, and the container level efficiency can be more than 95% , its service life can be more than 25 years and it has the ability of continuous safety monitoring.

The Powtrix battery system has delivers outstanding performance on durability. The system reaches IP55 + C5 anti-corrosion level, which is able to effectively resist dust, water spraw, hot and humid environments, as well as wind, sand, and salt spray. The internal components of the system are all tested according to 60°C long-term high-temperature aging, showing good durability and outstanding performance even under extreme weather conditions. At the same time, the system is equipped with active ballancing technology. Compared with passive balancing, active balancing capacity is increased by 20 times, energy saving is 150 times, and a single cluster can reduce operation and maintenance costs by 80%.

In terms of power safety, the REPT BATTERO’s Powtrix energy storage system supports thermoelectric separation, short-circuit arc protection, external short circuit detection and battery valve action detection. In terms of thermal safety, the Powtrix energy storage system has excellent passive safety performance in the comprehensive UL 9540A test evaluation, and applies both module and system firefighting strategies to suppress fire at the earliest stage, minimizing the thermal diffusion and fire risk of the battery system.

The REPT BATTERO Powtrix energy storage system offers a 20% increase in energy density, a 16.6% reduction in footprint, and a 15.7% savings in investment compared to a traditional 5MWh energy storage system. REPT BATTERO Powtrix energy storage system meets a number of U.S. regulations and standards for safety, including NEC, NPFA68/69/70, NFPA855, IEEE693, and performed well on large-scale fire assessment tests with the forced fire range able to be controlled in the expected range.

Excellence in system integration compatibility 

Powtrix combines the technical characteristics of mainstream PCS equipment and unique station layouts. The output interface design supports two optional forms of bottom outlet and endside outlet. At the same time, Powtrix products also support different wiring juction forms of single-channel bus output and multi-channel independent output, which can take into account the wiring methods of PCS of different brands and architectures, fully meeting the system matching requirements of global customers, and making them grid-friendly, system-friendly and battery-friendly.

In addition to the Powtrix product family, REPT will also launch its flagship version. Based on the current 300Ah+ series of cells supplied in mass production, REPT BATTERO have applied the same chemical system design with only minor dimensional adjustments. And REPT BATTERO were able to attain a full compartment capacity of 6.25MWh. The product hands down from the full set of approximate design schemes of 300Ah+ series from cell to assembly, which has many advantages including stable chemical systems, mature process routes, reliable system integration and quick mass production. It will be the pioneer and flagship version of 6MWh family products to serve clients.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rept-battero-wending-564ah-energy-storage-cell-and-powtrix-energy-storage-system-officially-launched-at-re2024-302256618.html

SOURCE REPT BATTERO NA OFFICE

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