What does this week’s financial calendar look like?
The following announcements, events, and reports are scheduled for this week:
Monday, August 19th
Fed Governor Christopher Waller remarks
U.S. leading economic indicators – July 2024
Tuesday, August 20th
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speech
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr speech
Wednesday, August 21st
Minutes of Fed’s July FOMC meeting released
Thursday, August 22nd
Initial jobless claims – Week of August 17th
S&P flash U.S. services PMI – August 2024
S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI – August 2024
Existing-home sales – July 2024
Friday, August 23rd
Fed Chair Jerome Powell speech at Jackson Hole retreat
New home sales – July 2024
Where did mortgage rates end last week?
The national average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped 0.02% to 6.56%* on Friday. This week was a bit calmer than the previous week, but there could be choppy waters ahead.
The next event that’s likely to move the market is this week’s Federal Reserve retreat at Jackson Hole, WY. The event is a three-day symposium that ends with a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. It’s expected that Powell will use this event to ‘set the table’ for a September rate cut, but the market reaction will depend on how aggressive or soft Powell sounds.
It’s unclear how the market will react if Powell indicates that the Fed needs to move quickly to cut rates or if he feels a slower approach is more reasonable in the current climate. We won’t know until the words escape Powell’s mouth, but the market has a chance to get choppy either way.
How are migration trends shaping the Texas real estate market?
The state of Texas continued to attract new residents from around the country in the first half of the year, and they’re not just leaving California for the Lone Star State.
In Houston, Louisiana was the top origin state for U-Haul movers, and New Orleans as the top out-of-state origin metro area.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area picked up new residents from Oklahoma, Florida, and Louisiana were the top three origin states for movers.
San Antonio and Austin continued the ‘Texafornia’ trend with Californians still moving to the area in the thousands.
Movers have driven impressive population growth over the past few years. For example, Celina, TX, a suburb of Dallas, has seen a population increase of 143% over the last three years.
Economic growth, lower taxes, and lower cost of living continue to drive new residents to Texas, but home affordability is a key factor. Austin’s median home price in July 2024 of $540,000 seems like a bargain when compared to the $1.2 million median home price in Los Angeles.
*National average rates as of 8/16/2024 are included for educational purposes only and are not advertised rates from Owning.
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