CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday examined Home Depot's earnings report, saying the retailer's insights make him think interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve could stop the housing market from a hard landing.
"Right now, housing's waiting for the cavalry to come to the rescue, by which I mean it's waiting for the Fed to cut rates," he said."While that's not something we desperately need, at least for the moment, it could be a major positive catalyst for a huge part of the economy."'s earnings report, saying the retailer's insights make him think interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve could stop the housing market from a hard landing.
According to Cramer, if mortgage rates were to come down close to 6.5% for the 30-year fixed, there would be more remodeling and restoration work bolstered by home equity loans. These areas were hurt by supply chain issues during Covid and didn't quite find their footing after the pandemic because of steep rate hikes, he said. Cramer also said the"" dynamic — where homeowners won't move because they don't want to lose low interest rates by doing so — won't last forever.
" gave me hope that we can avoid a hard landing for housing, but only if the Fed unlocks those golden handcuffs that it created by taking rates to super low levels a few years ago," Cramer said."I bet that's what happens, and clearly Home Depot agrees or else they wouldn't have shelled out $18 billion for a professional roof and pool supplier, two areas that desperately need lower rates.