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- 🤠🏡 Selling Austin #16
🤠🏡 Selling Austin #16
Fed Update and A Very Special Deal 👀
Kirtana Reddy
May 17, 2024
Welcome everyone, happy Friday!
Pay attention to predictions of future rate cuts ✂️ and our very special deal of the week 👀
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WHAT'S INSIDE
🔢 THE DATA
A month ago we covered the April 10th Fed Meeting.
Quick refresher:
The Federal Reserve does not directly affect mortgage rates. They influence them by changing the interest rate that banks charge each other for loans. This impacts the rate at which banks can lend to consumers through mortgages, auto loans etc.
Great. Onwards.
The April US economic indicators were released on Wednesday and you might have seen that inflation eased for the first time in 2024.
Does “eased” mean inflation went down? Nope. It has just increased less than the previous months.
Unnecessarily complicated, I hear you. But stay with me.
CPI is consumer price index and it measures inflation as it’s felt by you in your day-to-day expenses. CPI looks at 100s of items to figure out what the specific drivers of inflation are. Example: eating out is more expensive (just me?) and clothes are less.
Per Bloomberg, housing and gas costs remain the biggest components of inflation. Economists believe the slowing data means interest-rate cuts by the Fed. The financial markets seem to agree - the NYSE and NASDAQ closed at record highs. Traders signaled increasing confidence in two reductions by the end of 2024.
Psst: A month ago - traders were betting on 1 cut in 2024.
Big question - when is the rate cut coming?
For this, let’s check in on our friend and Chair of the Federal Reserve - Jerome Powell. He said Tuesday the central bank will “need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.” This comment came 1 day before the April CPI report was released, I will keep you updated with his next response.
Let’s see what the experts say:
“The report will probably add a bit to Fed confidence about disinflation progress — but they’re likely still less confident than they were entering 2024. At least April’s CPI should keep the chances of a July rate cut alive, for now.”
- Anna Wong, Stuart Paul and Estelle Ou @ Bloomberg Economics
"I don't see any indicators now telling me ... there's a reason to change the stance of monetary policy now," adding that he did not expect the case for a rate cut to fall into place "in the very near term."
- John Williams - New York Fed President
Very interesting but slightly outside our normal scope:
There is an increasing possibility per economics experts that the Fed could lower rates around the presidential election. The Fed is resolute in its separation from politics but with officials needing a few months of positive data to signal cuts (after worse-than-expected outcomes recently) - a late summer or early fall cut seems to be a possibility.
Phew. That’s enough finance talk for now.
👀 DEAL OF THE WEEK
This week’s deal is going to look a bit different.
Property tax protest season is upon us. Reducing your appraisals can save you thousands in annual taxes.
If you have contested your taxes - I will pull comparable properties and evidence for your home. At a pretty great price too: free. For the first 5 people who respond.
Just reply to this email if you’re interested and i’ll get on it!
⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
If you’re a buyer/seller/investor/renter or just interested in real estate - this weekly newsletter will help guide your decision making and help you better understand the market.
Buyer - Spring/Summer is historically the highest activity - Multiple offer situations are back for stellar properties at all price points | Seller - You have competition - Stage your home | Renter - Seeing big complexes offer 6-8 weeks free - Don’t re-sign leases that are increasing your rents! |
🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER
Imagine being able to watch the changing Austin skyline from the comfort of your couch. Well, you can. The view is all yours for $7,499,950.
Thank you for being here! Reply to this email if you have any questions or just to say hello! 👋
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