What’s on this week’s financial calendar?
The following announcements, events, and reports are on the financial calendar for the week of July 29th – August 2nd:
Monday, July 29th
None scheduled
Tuesday, July 30th
S&P Case-Shiller home price index – May 2024
Consumer Confidence – Jul 2024
Job Openings – June 2024
Wednesday, July 31st
ADP employment – July 2024
Employment cost index – Q2 2024
Chicago Business Barometer – July 2024
Pending home sales – June 2024
FOMC interest rate decision
Fed Chair Powell press conference
Thursday, August 1st
Initial jobless claims – Week of July 27th
U.S. Productivity – Q2 2024
S&P U.S. manufacturing PMI – July 2024
ISM manufacturing – July 2024
Construction spending – June 2024
Friday, August 2nd
U.S. employment report – July 2024
U.S. unemployment rate – July 2024
U.S. hourly wages – July 2024 & year-over-year
Factory orders – June 2024
Where did mortgage rates end last week?
The national average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage ended Friday’s session down 0.05% to 6.86%*. What pushed rates lower? The market saw the latest inflation report and reacted with a rally in the bond market. Higher bond yields pushed the mortgage market down.
However, we get the big announcement in the middle of this week. The Federal Reserve will announce what it plans to do with mortgage rates. Recent signs have indictated that the Fed is starting to favor cutting interest rates sooner rather than later.
A cut after the upcoming meeting has the potential to shock the market. However, if the Fed doesn’t cut, most market watchers will be focused on the tone and tenor of their commentary. Everyone is looking for signs that the Fed will start cutting interest rates.
How is a buyer’s market defined?
A lot of attention has been paid to whether or not we’re in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. The answer often depends on the location in the country and, sometimes, the day of the week.
The team at CNBC asked real estate professionals to define what a buyer’s market looks like. Their experts provided several signs to monitor for buyer-friendly behavior.
Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, said that the first sign of a buyer’s market is home staying on the market for longer. According to recent data from Zillow, homes are averaging 46 days on the market this year compared to 35 days last year.
Julie Zubiate, a Redfin Premier real estate agent, focused more on buyer behavior. She recently wrote, “Buyers are getting more and more selective. They’re backing to due to minor issues because the monthly costs associated with buying a home today are just too high to rationalize not getting everything on their must-have list.”
Selma Hepp, the chief economist at CoreLogic, mentioned levels of competition. She said, “With more inventory, that does certainly mean that buyers have more options, but that is very regional.”
The fourth sign to look for is price cuts. Divounguy said, “Sellers are having to do a little bit more to entice buyers. We see one in four sellers are cutting their prices — the most for any June in the last six years — to try to sway buyers.”
* National average rates as of 7/26/2024 are included for educational purposes only and are not advertised rates from Rate.
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