Decline in Mortgage Rates in July

• Despite 39% of U.S. families renting in 2022, nearly 8 million qualified as "income mortgage-ready." This means they could likely handle a mortgage payment for a typical home in their area without exceeding 30% of their income. We urgently need to educate the consumer better as it relates to finances. (Benzinga)

• The Park Fire near Chico, California is the largest blaze in the state this year, currently at 164,286 acres, and sadly started by an arsonist. 2024's second largest fire is the Lake Fire near Santa Barbara which has burned at least 38,000 acres but is now 90% contained. In Hutchinson, Texas a wildfire burned over 1,1 million acres earlier this year in March. In Oregon, over 270,000 acres burned earlier this month. (USA Today)

• MONOPOFLATION? With many corporations starting to cut prices - many who had raised them simply because inflation was a great 'excuse' to do so - might the fact that there are huge monopolies in the US corporate world have allowed this by reducing competition?

• Real Estate has multiple tax advantages: One of them is when you inherit property, the IRS applies a stepped-up basis to that asset. This means, for tax purposes, the base price of the asset resets to its value on the day you inherited it. If you were to hypothetically inherit property and then immediately sell it, you would potentially owe no taxes on those assets. The rules are the same whether you jointly own the property or not. Capital gains tax on the jointly owned inherited property will be evenly split, based on the ownership stake, for each owner who inherited a piece of the property.

• GM’s Cruise is now testing autonomous cars in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix.....they will be monitored by humans, but soon we may see driverless taxis in cities everywhere? Will the rides be cheaper than the $25 it costs me to take a cab 4 blocks in Manhattan?  (NY TIMES)

• The 30-year fixed rate mortgage declined to 6.78% on July 25, down from the 7.22% high on May 2, according to Freddie Mac data. The first rate cut is almost entirely priced into financial markets already, especially bond markets. If borrowing costs for home loans come down, there’s a chance more buyers will jump in the market. And if demand outpaces supply, prices might go up even more. (CNBC)

• SAFE-flation? What might be another form of inflation fuel?  The cost for security, both physical and digital, not to mention insurance. 77,000 security staff and just 10,500 athletes at the Paris Olympics.....no wonder those tickets cost a fortune! (WSJ)

• European Central Bank at June’s meeting cut rates by a quarter point to 3.75%. We have also seen rate cuts in Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland this year. In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently signaled that further rate hikes are unlikely from here, meaning that bond yields should be at, or close to, peak levels. (BARRONS)

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