The downward trend in the 10-year Treasury yield signals increasing investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower the federal funds rate during this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This sentiment contributed to the most significant weekly drop This Week in Real Estate in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate since September 2024. The average rate fell to 6.35%, down from 6.50% the previous week, marking the first time in eleven months that rates have dipped below 6.5%. As a result, mortgage application activity has accelerated in early September. Additionally, Tuesday’s release of revised employment data, covering April 2024 through March 2025, provides Fed policymakers with further evidence of a cooling labor market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a downward revision of 911,000 jobs, the largest correction on record. Despite moderating price growth, homeowners continue to hold substantial equity. According to Cotality’s Q2 2025 Homeowner Equity Report, the average borrower has approximately $307,000 in home equity, the third-highest level ever recorded. In total, homeowners with mortgages now hold an estimated $17.5 trillion in equity. Below are key events from the second week of September impacting our business:
HOME EQUITY LEVELS REMAIN HIGH EVEN AS PRICE APPRECIATION HAS COOLED. The average U.S. mortgage holder has more than $300,000 in home equity, a figure that’s up significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as national equity levels now stand at $17.5 trillion. That’s according to Cotality’s second-quarter 2025 home equity report released on Friday. The report noted that the average homeowner with a mortgage saw their equity decline in the past year by roughly $9,200. But the typical homeowner still has about $307,000 in accumulated, which is the third-highest quarterly total in the history of Cotality’s dataset. Cotality chief economist Selma Hepp said that home-price appreciation in 2025 is at its slowest pace since 2008. But even in markets that have seen price declines, home equity levels remain at historically high levels. Read the full story here.
PRESSURE GROWS FOR FED RATE CUT AS STUNNING JOBS DATA REVISION SHOWS ECONOMY TEETERING. Pressure is growing on the Federal Reserve and Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut its benchmark interest rate next week, following a stunning new revision to employment data showing the labor market is much weaker than previously thought. The Labor Department issued an annual revision to payroll estimates on Tuesday, saying that the economy added 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March 2025 than previously reported. It marked the largest correction ever issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, exceeding the 902,000 downward revision the agency made in 2009, during the depths of the global financial crisis.. Read the full story here.
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