Economic news this week – It was a light week for economic news. The Trump administration announced that a trade deal with the United Kingdom was made and that trade negotiations with China will be held this weekend. The Federal Reserve met and left interest rates unchanged. Next week we will get CPI and PPI numbers for April. So far, we have not seen an increase in inflation numbers due to tariffs; however, most tariffs had not begun in March so they would not impact March inflation data. Economists are waiting for those reports to see if inflation is going to begin to increase as tariffs kick in.
Stock markets were mainly flat this week – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 41,249.38, down 0.2% from 41,317.43 last week. It is down 7.4% from 44,544.66 on December 31, 2024. The S&P 500 closed the week at 5,659.91, down 0.5% from 5,686.67 last week. The S&P is down 6.3% from 6,040.53 on December 31, 2024. The Nasdaq closed the week at 17,928.92, down 0.3% from 17,977.73 last week. It is down 8.7% from 19,627.44 on December 31, 2024.
U.S. Treasury bond yields increased for the third straight week on tariff fears – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 4.37%, upfrom 4.33% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 4.83%, up from 4.79% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.
Mortgage rates – Every Thursday Freddie Mac publishes interest rates based on a survey of mortgage lenders throughout the week. The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as of May 8, 2025, were as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.76%, unchanged from 6.76% last week. The 15-year fixed rate was 5.89%, down from 5.92% last week.
The graph below shows the trajectory of mortgage rates over the past year.
Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 to keep money flowing to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. Their mandate is to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S.
April home sales numbers will be released by the California Association of Realtors at the end of next week, or the beginning of the following week for California sales and listings. The National Association of Realtors will release national figures the week after next. They post-sales data right around the 21st of each month. You can get April California sales figures for your city or zip code at RodeoRE.com. We posted them this morning.
Have a Great Weekend!