Top news articles for financial advisors and personal finance
Week of 8/1
This week's recap focuses on positive trends for home buyers and home owners, risks for a recession, the future of human-digital finance and credit card debt.
Mortgage Rates Drop Below 5% for First Time Since April (Ben Eisen, The Wall Street Journal) The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to the lowest levels since April to 4.99% this week. Experts expect the volatility of rates to continue as a result of uncertainty surrounding the current market including inflation and a recession. Read more about other updated trends in the housing market this week.
US Recession Odds Are Falling Fast, JPMorgan Trading Model Shows (Denitsa Tsekova, Bloomberg) Taking indications from stock market performance, it seems that a recession is becoming increasingly unlikely. Both the S&P 500 and US junk bonds saw decreases in recession risk. However, Treasury and commodities markets saw an increase. Read more about what different recession indicators are showing and what it means for risk of a recession
Why Hybrid Human-Digital Finance Will Be Multifaceted (Christopher Robbins, Financial Advisor Magazine) A recent survey found that 67% of individuals who reported working with a financial advisor said that financial applications were important to achieving their financial goals. With a plethora of technologies and different ways to package them with human advice, financial advisors will have to find the sweet spot. Read more about what the future model of advising could look like.
Almost Half Of Mortgaged Homes In U.S. Now Considered Equity-Rich (Alex Tanzi, Financial Advisor) In nearly half of mortgaged properties in the US, owners had at least 50% equity in their properties. At the same time, the share of homes where the mortgage is more than 25% greater than market value also dropped to 2.9%. Read more about where these gains were seen.
Credit Card Debt Surges as Inflation Pushes Americans to Borrow More (Jaclyn Peiser, The Washington Post) Credit card balances increased by $46 billion in the second quarter of this year. Researchers at the New York Fed concluded that these increases in borrowing were due to higher prices caused by inflation. Read more about the recent trends in consumer debt driven by inflation.