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When will mortgage interest rates fall again? Watch these 3 dates
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Homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance both received positive news earlier this month when mortgage interest rates plunged to their lowest level in two years. That drop was partially due to the expectation that the Federal Reserve would cut its federal funds rate. And the Fed did take that action later the same day, making a larger-than-expected 50 basis points cut. Still, most (if not all) of that cut had already been priced in in advance by mortgage lenders. That leads to the question, then, about when mortgage interest rates will fall again.
Predicting the rate changes for any product can be difficult, if not impossible (especially for mortgage interest rates which are influenced by a variety of factors besides just the Federal Reserve). But that doesn’t mean that buyers and owners can’t still get an approximate idea of when rates will adjust downward. Below, we’ll detail three calendar dates to monitor in which rates could fall.
Want to take advantage of today’s lower rates? See what you could qualify for here.
When will mortgage interest rates fall again?
With so many factors driving mortgage interest rates, it’s worth monitoring each day. But the following three dates could be particularly influential:
October 3, 2024
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), a closely followed financial services company that monitors mortgage activity, will release it’s next mortgage monitor report on this date. And it could be an interesting one now that mortgage rates are consistently cooling. Review it, then, for information on trends, home prices and buyer sentiment, specifically. Lenders will also be reviewing it to gauge any movement they want to get ahead of and, accordingly, could start lowering their mortgage rates in response.
Start exploring your mortgage rate options online today.
October 4, 2024
Unemployment data for the month prior is typically released on the first Friday of a new month. So keep an eye out when September numbers are released on Friday, October 4. While it may seem unrelated to mortgage rates on the surface, a problematic report there showing muted growth, or, worse, an increase in unemployment figures, could play into Fed considerations about additional rate cuts. Mortgage lenders, then, could start pricing in additional reductions in advance. So poor unemployment news on this date could lead to further mortgage rate adjustments that Friday and in the week after.
October 10, 2024
October 10 will be the day the next inflation report is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further cooling in the rate there could make the Fed feel more comfortable reducing interest rates again when they meet in November (there’s no Fed meeting scheduled for October). This data will go a long way toward informing the Fed’s long-term approach to rates since it’ll be the first round of inflation data to be released post-September rate cut. Watch it carefully.
The bottom line
October 3, 4, and 10 could all be days in which mortgage rates may fall again. But while rates may make bigger moves on these dates than some other upcoming ones, the overall climate is a fluid one right now and both buyers and owners should take a more proactive approach as a result. After years of waiting for mortgage rates to finally become affordable again, the time to act could be now for some buyers, or just weeks away for others.
Have more questions? Learn more about your current mortgage options here.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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