Municipal-Bond Sales Surge in January as Issuers Take Advantage of Rate Stability
- Boom in new issuance dulled usual ‘January Effect’ performance
- More than $30 billion in cash looks for a new home in February
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This was the busiest January for municipal bond sales in almost a decade, and analysts predict that states and localities will keep up the pace, taking advantage of lower borrowing costs and strong investor demand.
Issuers sold $31.8 billion in municipal bonds, the largest amount since January of 2017, when they sold $34.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. January is usually one of the slowest months for municipal bond sales: Over the past decade, the average for the month has been $25 billion.