Mortgage rates had a great day yesterday, moving within 0.01% of the lowest levels in more than a month. They dropped just a bit more today and are now officially the lowest they’ve been since May 14th. Today’s improvement was more of an afterthought, but nonetheless helps legitimize yesterday’s heavy lifting as something other than a freak coincidence. The only word of caution is that the last few weeks of any given quarter can see elevated volatility in a random pattern due to considerations in the trading world (mortgages are ultimately based on trading levels in the bond market). In terms of nuts and bolts, bonds got today’s modest boost after PCE inflation data came in on target. This doesn’t seem like something that should spark a reaction, but the “target” is merely a median forecast. Some traders may have been expecting hotter inflation and were thus willing to buy a few bonds when those fears didn’t materialize.
California Voters Will Decide If Local Taxes Should Be Harder to Approve
California voters will decide in November if the state will make it more difficult for cities to raise local taxes similar to Los Angeles’ 3-year-old Measure ULA “mansion tax” via the ballot box. State lawmakers on Thursday advanced a measure that would require some special taxes to receive support from two-thirds of voters, rather than…
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