We hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. With the weather seemingly getting warmer every year, it seems like summer vibes come earlier every year as well. Of course, we are used to that in the real estate industry because Memorial Day is typically the start of real estate summer. Summer is the time in which the real estate market slows down a bit. Though with mortgage rates peaking this year in late winter and early spring, any sign of lower rates could increase activity throughout the summer.

Certainly, the economic news is not slowing down. We have the jobs report at the end of next week and then a meeting of the Federal Reserve the following week. With the first sign of a slowing job market popping up within the April employment report, it will be interesting to see how May’s numbers look. Would two months of moderate job growth be enough to convince the Fed to lower rates? The market analysts don’t seem to think so.

However, as we have pointed out previously, the Fed does not have to lower their short-term interest rates in order for mortgage rates to fall. They just need to sound more optimistic about lowering rates in the near future. Any surprise in the employment numbers can turn rates higher or lower before the Fed meets and issues their announcement. Thus, next week’s jobs report will be scrutinized even more closely than usual. In the meantime, there will be a slew of data released this week – including measures of personal income and spending and the Fed’s favored measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index.