The Summer Remains Hot, and the Olympics Have Taken Over.

The summer remains hot, and the Olympics have taken over. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is ready to cut rates for the first time in more than four years in the upcoming September FOMC meeting (or sooner), especially since the last jobs report suggested that the labor market is cooling faster than expected, and the stock market has been reacting negatively to the news. Should the downward momentum in rates continue, lower costs of borrowing could help push home sales back up in the third and the fourth quarters.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or comments with your local market.
 

Did You Know?
New Mortgage Bankers Association data shows that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.55% last week. That marked the biggest weekly decline in two years and put the rate at its lowest since May 2023. In response, refinancing applications jumped 16%, and mortgage applications ticked up by 0.8%. Mortgage rates will likely fall even further since everyone expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September. 

Did You Know?
Multiple bids are dead and prices are plummeting?  No, not in Silicon Valley!  In July, at least 65 properties sold for $200,000 or more above their listing prices, with 20 of these homes fetching over $500,000 above asking!  (Compass Insights)
 
DID YOU KNOW?   
If you want to know just how good inflation has been to the wealthy, look no further than the billionaire class who added around 50% to their total wealth in the past 5 years. But keep looking...because, as hard as it may be to believe, those with a net worth of around $2 million or more account for just 10% of the US population. To be in the top 20%, you need a net worth of around $600,000. 
 
DID YOU KNOW? 
Insurance giant State Farm asked Californian regulators for a 30% rate increase for homeowners, barely 3 months after a 21% increase came into effect. Higher rates AND less coverage?  In Arkansas, insurers are being allowed to reduce hail and wind coverage after storms caused big losses. Florida addressed one of the biggest complaints from insurers by making it harder for consumers to sue the companies. Florida remains the most expensive in the US for home insurance with the average premium in 2023 around $3,340, roughly double the national average. The insurance industry is grappling with extreme upward pressure costs due to high inflation, a climate-change-fueled rise in natural disasters...and population shifts to high-risk areas. (WSJ)

DID YOU KNOW?
Some 440 nuclear reactors around the world supply about 10% of the planet’s electricity, a share that will have to triple by 2030 to head off the most extreme effects of climate change, according to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental research organization. An increasing number of Americans seem to agree: In 2023, 57% supported the use of more nuclear power in the US, up from 43% in 2020. (BLOOMBERG)

DID YOU KNOW?
Around 50% of Gen Z use Tik-Tok, a primary source of news that tells them that no one in their generation will be able to buy a house, food prices are spinning out of control, and credit card debt is unavoidable...but also that $2,500 Louis Vuitton bags and $70 moisturizers are, as many videos say, “a must”? Say that out loud twice and the solution seems rather easy and obvious.... none of this is coincidental: much of Tik-Tok's messaging is corporate-fueled profiteering via anger/fear: If the outlook is bad, why not enjoy life now?  Why buy when the world is ending: rent instead? Those born in the 90's saw their median wealth more than quadruple to over $40,000 between 2019-2022 (Federal Reserve Bank,St. Louis) while adding non-mortgage debt of an additional $11,000 in the past 2 years. (WSJ)