Author: Joy

August 2023

April 2018

The Dog Days Edition

All Under
One Roof

Every year we seem to publish the “Dog Days of August” edition. And there is always new fodder for the edition. Certainly, August a few years ago was unique because we were in the height of the pandemic. This year, the battle between good and evil is taking place within our economy. What is the good? A remarkable jobs machine cranking out hundreds of thousands of jobs every month which is contributing to a resilient economy. Early this month we will get another picture of the employment situation representing what is right with today’s picture.
What is evil? The Federal Reserve continuing to hike interest rates in an attempt to knock the resilient economy off of its perch. It seems the Fed will not rest until they pull the economy into a recession. The bottom line is that interest rates are going higher for a longer period of time because the Fed does not want the economy to be doing this well. Of course, they are using this economic poison to fight another evil – inflation. The Fed would be happy to have an expanding economy if inflation was under control.
So, the real Dog Days of August question this year is—can the Fed bring inflation under control without causing a recession? We think everyone in America should go on vacation in August and find out the answer when they get back in September. Did we mention that the Fed is not meeting in August? Even they need a Dog Days of August breather. Maybe our August edition will feature a beach forecast. Just watch out for dog sharks!...q

Sources: BLS, Yahoo Finance

Skip The
Fine China

According to research from Realtor.com and Censuswide, fine china and other traditional wedding gifts are out, and cash wedding gifts that are contributions toward homeownership are in. The research was conducted by Censuswide, with 2,291 respondents in the U.S. including 755 people who have created a wedding registry in the last 24 months.
"It’s extremely difficult for first-time homebuyers right now," Realtor.com executive news editor Clare Trapasso tells FOX Business. "Any extra financial assistance they receive can mean the difference between becoming home-owners and remaining renters.
The study found that newlyweds would rather gift-givers skip traditional presents in favor of financial gifts toward the purchase of a home. Newlyweds polled for the survey who have had a wedding registry in the last 24 months reveal this cash-focused gift trend is spot-on, as 85% say they would have preferred to have received money toward a down payment on a home, rather than a physical gift. And 80% said that if they were creating a gift registry today, they would include an option for people to give them money toward homebuying expenses, such as a down payment, a mortgage payment or closing costs, according to the survey...q
Source: Fox Business

Selected Interest Rates
July 20 2023
30 Year Mortgages———6.68%
2022 High (Nov 10)—–—–—7.08%
2022 Low (Jan 6)———–-3.22%
15 Year Mortgages———6.06%
10 Year Treasuries—–—–3.85%
Sources—Fed Reserve, Freddie Mac
Note: Average rates do not include
fees and points. Information is
provided for indicating trends only
and should not be used for
comparison purposes.

The number of Americans living with multiple generations under one roof has quadrupled, according to the Pew Research Center. More than 59 million people live in multigenerational households, or homes that include two or more adult generations. Whether it's parents and adult children or a "skipped generation" consisting of grandparents and their grandchildren, these homes offer a unique dynamic that can be both rewarding and challenging.
When asked about the familial makeup of the people in their home, respondents said parents and adult children were the most common familial roles represented. While many family members may take on the responsibility of multiple familial roles, everyone plays an important part in living communally.
On average, multigenerational homes consist of about four people. Often, as many as four generations live together in one home. Many individuals surveyed have been living in multigenerational homes for a significant portion of their lives, with 31.7% of respondents reporting a lifelong experience in this type of living situation. It’s evident that multigenerational living is not limited to any particular age group but encompasses individuals from various stages of adulthood. Some 48.8% said home affordability and saving money were their main concern when choosing where and how to live. Roughly 31.2 % of those surveyed said they wanted to spend more time with family and an estimated 27.9% said providing care for older family members was a significant factor...q
Source: MReport

Did You Know…
CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI) recorded an annual increase of 3.4 percent in May. Since the start of the pandemic, single-family median rents have increased by $470, or 30 percent. The company does not see rents declining in the near term.

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