August 1, 2025

Overview:

  • The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
  • For the week ending August 1, Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale covers the marquis economic indicators including the jobs report, inflation & growth data, and the Fed meeting. She reviews what they mean for mortgage rates this week and what’s ahead. I’ll also cover several housing metrics including the Realtor.com July housing trends report and weekly data, as well as pending home sales, price, and homeownership data.  Finally, Danielle will showcase a surprising finding from the Realtor.com New York City rental report. 
  • You’ll find all the details including full reports and our housing data for download at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly twitter) for real time updates. And instagram @realtordotcomecon for graphics.

Reports and articles referenced:

  • 2025Q2 NYC Rental Report
    https://www.realtor.com/research/nyc-q2-2025-rent/ 
  • July 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report
    https://www.realtor.com/research/july-2025-data/
  • Weekly Housing Market Trends – Week of July 26
    https://www.realtor.com/research/weekly-housing-trends-view-data-week-july-26-2025/
  • Commentary on Housing Vacancy and Homeownership – 2025Q2
    https://www.realtor.com/research/homeownership-q2-2025/ 
  • Commentary on Case-Shiller Home Price Index – May 2025
    https://www.realtor.com/research/case-shiller-home-prices-may-2025/ 
  • Commentary on Federal Open Market Committee Meeting – July 2025
    https://www.realtor.com/research/federal-reserve-july-2025-meeting/
  • Commentary on Pending Home Sales – June 2025
    https://www.realtor.com/research/pending-home-sales-june-2025/ 
  • Commentary on Mortgage Rates – July 31, 2025:
    https://www.realtor.com/research/freddie-mac-mortgage-rates-july-31-2025/
  • Commentary on Jobs Report – July 2025:
    https://www.realtor.com/research/july-2025-employment-report/  

Housing data for download:

https://www.realtor.com/research/data

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

  • I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. This week, I’ll cover the marquis economic indicators including the jobs report, inflation & growth data, and the Fed meeting. I’ll review what they mean for mortgage rates this week and what’s ahead. I’ll also cover several housing metrics including the Realtor.com July housing trends report and weekly data, as well as pending home sales, price, and homeownership data.   Finally, I’ll showcase a finding from our New York City rental report that surprised me. 
  • First, for the better part of the year the economy and labor market have contended with concerns that high interest rates meant to stave off renewed inflation could usher in a too-abrupt slowdown. Today’s jobs report showed that hiring generally slowed, and the unemployment rate edged up, but wages also picked up, so the question remains with ample data evidence on both sides.  Similarly, we saw a rebound in economic growth in the second quarter, but after a decline in the first quarter, the first half of the year saw a slower rate of growth on net. Worries about inflation, which edged higher in June according to the Fed’s preferred gauge, prompted the Fed to leave its Federal Funds rate unchanged at this week’s meeting, but the decision was not unanimous. Two voting members did not support the decision because they would have preferred to cut rates instead.
  • Against this backdrop, mortgage rates edged lower for a second week, but have been remarkably stable this spring and summer. I expect rates to edge somewhat lower later this year. 
  • Looking at July housing data, the national market has cooled modestly as active listings top 1.1 million, but divergent regional trends help explain varied perspectives. In the South and West, conditions have led to sometimes sizable, double-digit price adjustments since 2022. Meanwhile, several markets in the Midwest and Northeast have similarly sized price gains in that period.
  • In the Realtor.com Weekly Housing Trends report, we see little week to week change. Price growth remains muted. While active listing growth remains substantial, the rate is slowing as new listings growth moderates. 
  • Looking at transactions, pending home sales eased in June despite more abundant inventory, highlighting potential gaps in buyer and seller expectations. Home prices, which increased at a slower pace according to one sales metric, are undoubtedly one of the major sticking points. Amid a challenging purchase environment, the homeownership rate data dropped to its lowest rate in nearly 6 years, suggesting that more are choosing to rent for now, nudging rental vacancy rates lower. 
  • Finally, despite softness in rents nationwide, rents in New York City continued to increase city-wide, a factor that undoubtedly contributed to Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary. In an attempt to understand how unaffordable New York is, we calculated the time it would take for rent to become affordable if incomes grew and rents were frozen. The surprising answer: it would take decades.
  • You can find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research.  You can also follo