Economic Indicators -
- Mortgage Rates: The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stayed fairly stable this week at 6.78% compared to 6.79% last week, according to Freddie Mac
- Mortgage rates may have stabilised following the election which will be great for the housing market as when rates are volatile it creates a lot of uncertainty
- Election uncertainty contributed to an upswing in mortgage rates during October and then rates went up even further last week as the stock market reacted to election results
- Inflation: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October was released this week
- Showing 0.2% inflation for October and 2.6% annually, both numbers were in line with expectations
- The core CPI accelerated 0.3% for the month and was at 3.3% annually, also meeting forecasts
- The Fed: Markets expect the Fed to cut interest rates by 0.25% at the December meeting, given that there were no surprises in the CPI Report
- Although it's expected that next year could be a different story given uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs and other potential inflationary policies under the Trump administration
- The markets are already speculating that the Fed will cut interest rates fewer times in 2025 than previously forecasted.
- The next Fed meeting to discuss policy is on Dec 17-18.
