By Joseph T Ellington Jr – Licensed Residential Appraiser, Capital Valuations. Archived October 2024 commentary, reviewed September 2026.
This page preserves the October 2024 discussion as an archive. It is not a report of current mortgage rates, prices, employment, or a forecast. The charts below appeared in the original article; their plotted figures and provenance have not been independently verified. Use the primary series linked here for exact historical values.
Four questions behind the old charts
| Indicator | Primary series | Relevance to a local appraisal |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage rates | Freddie Mac PMMS archive | Financing costs can affect a buyer’s budget |
| Employment | BLS jobs reports | National employment is context; local demand still needs analysis |
| Inflation | BLS CPI | One macroeconomic input, not a home value estimate |
| Sales | NAR existing-home sales | National trend must be checked against local closed sales |
Why the effective date matters
An appraisal answers a value question as of a defined effective date. October 2024 transactions may be useful in a retrospective 2024 assignment; they cannot by themselves establish a 2026 value. An appraiser studies local comparable transactions, contract dates, concessions, inventory and conditions. See our comparable-sales explanation and another dated Hampton Roads archive.
Using this archive
Consult the original release date in each source, use consistent seasonally adjusted or unadjusted series, and distinguish national, metro and neighborhood patterns. Avoid transferring a national percentage directly to a single home. For a property-specific historical or current assignment, ask Joe about scope and effective date.