What does the financial calendar look like for the 1st week of May?
The following reports and events could move the market next week:
Monday, May 1st
S&P U.S. Manufactuing PMI – April 2023
ISM Manufacturing – April 2023
Construction Spending – March 2023
Tuesday, May 2nd
U.S. Job Openings – March 2023
Factory Orders – March 2023
Wednesday, May 3rd
ADP Employment – April 2023
S&P U.S. Services PMI – April 2023
ISM Services – April 2023
Federal Reserve Interest Rate Statement – May 2023
Fed Chair Powell press conference
Thursday, May 4th
U.S. Productivity – Q1 2023
U.S. Trade Deficit – March 2023
Initial Jobless Claims – April 29th, 2023
Continuing Jobless Claims – April 22nd, 2023
Friday, May 5th
U.S. Employment Report – April 2023
U.S. Unemployment Rate – April 2023
U.S. Hourly Wages – April 2023
Hourly Wages Year Over Year – April 2023
Consumer Credit – March 2023
What may trigger mortgage rate drops, according to Freddie Mac?
In recent data released by Freddie Mac, it showed mixed data for mortgage rate. The average 30-year, fixed rate mortgage was up to 6.43% for the week ending April 27, 2023, up from 6.39% the previous week. While the average rate 15-year fixed rate mortgage was down from 5.76% to 5.71% week over week.
However, the guidance provided by Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater wasn’t nearly as mixed. Khater stated, “The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased modestly for the second straight week, but with the rate of inflation decelerating rates should gently decline over the course of 2023.” Hopefully, the Federal Reserve rate hikes will start to pay off for homebuyers with lowered inflation rates, and, potentially, lower mortgage rates.
How to know if you should rent or buy in the current housing market?
The decision to rent or buy can be a challenge to make, especially when the housing market is as tight as it’s been for the past year. The team at CNBC, including senior climate and real estate correspondent, Diana Olick, took a look at the current situation to provide advice to folks seeking a roof over their head in the current market.
Olick stated, “This is an extraordinarily unique market because of the pandemic and because there was such a run on housing, so you have home prices very high, you also have rent prices very high.”
By the numbers, renting is still often cheaper. Across the 50 largest metro areas in the US, a typical renter pays about 40% less per month than a first-time homeowner. However, renting doesn’t allow you to build equity in a home and still subject to the rules and regulations of the landlord.
When asked about buying a house, Olick said, “You don’t buy a house based on the price of the house. You buy it based on the monthly payment that’s going to be principal and interest and insurance and property taxes. If that calculation works for you and it’s not that much of your income, perhaps a third of your income, then it’s probably a good bet for you, especially if you expect to stay in that home for more than 10 years.”
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