Good Morning on this best day of the week, Wednesday from your Hometown Lender,

Two down, one to go.

This morning’s CPI report was really the biggest of the three main economic reports for the week and came in as expected. Inflation has dropped to 2.9% and heading lower. The bond market is catching a small bid. The 10yr note is at 3.83%. Tomorrow brings the Retail Sales and Unemployment reports which will create additional volatility. If those come in worse than expected, rates will benefit.

The big question for bond traders is whether the data reinforces the case for a faster pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. Traders are split on whether the central bank will opt for a quarter- or half-point reduction in September, with swaps pricing in 36 basis points of easing. In all, they see about one percentage point worth of cuts in the remaining months of 2024.

A little rebuttal to those naysayers thinking values will come down… you know who you are.

Nearly 90% of U.S. metropolitan areas saw home prices rise in the second quarter of 2024, with one area reaching a historic milestone, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). San Jose, California, became the first metro area to record a median single-family home price above $2 million since NAR began tracking such data in 1979.

• Single-family existing-home sales prices rose in 89% of measured metro areas—199 of 223—in the second quarter, down from 93% in the previous quarter. The national median single-family existing-home price rose 4.9% from a year ago to $422,100.
• Twenty-nine markets (or 13% of the 229 tracked markets) experienced double-digit annual price appreciation (down from 30% in the prior quarter).
• The monthly mortgage payment on a typical, existing single-family home with a 20% down payment was $2,262—up 10.3% from one year ago.

Stay safe and make today great!