Clark Ivory runs Ivory Homes, one of the largest home building companies in Utah.

Rumor has it, you're a bit of a radio guy yourself, is that right?

Well, I do our commercials, you know.

Hello, this is Clark Ivory with Ivory Homes.

This year's going to be fantastic.

Let me tell you about it.

Hi there, this is Clark Ivory with Ivory Homes.

2023 is going to be amazing, especially if you choose to move into a new Ivory home.

I love this.

Clark's industry has been on a bumpy ride in recent years.

The housing market is sensitive to interest rate hikes, which make it harder for people to buy homes.

Last year, mortgage rates hit a 20-year high.

What's happening in the housing market right now is just frustrating.

If you're a buyer, if you're thinking about selling, it's frustrating because of mortgage rates.

mortgage rates rising at the fastest pace since 1987.

I believe 6% mortgage rates were accepted as a new normal.

I think now we're in an environment where 7% mortgage rates are now the new normal.

If you were venting or talking to a friend in January of 23, what would you have said about your business's prospects for the year?

It was going to be a tough year.

Very competitive year, almost every builder that I talked to just said they were very cautious.

They weren't going to take a lot of risks, but they were also nervous because they'd seen a really difficult period from summer till the end of the year.

I think the other thing is everyone had in the back of their mind how difficult it was in the last housing downturn.

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