POSTS CATEGORIZED:
Mortgage rates have creeped above 7%, and the inflation data released this month gives the Federal Reserve little reason to ease. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.40% in Freddie Mac's October 15 survey. My October 2026 Berkeley Real Estate Market Update explains what...
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates this week for the first time since 2023, even as Berkeley's market keeps appreciating at a level that seems to have little to do with what is happening in Washington. In this September 2026 Berkeley real estate market update I...
Summer's underlying economic data came in cooler than the headlines suggest, and Berkeley's market is once again marching to its own drum beat. Below I walk through July's inflation, jobs, and wholesale price reports, the Federal Reserve's latest rate decision, and...
June economic data sent softer signals across the board: inflation cooled, hiring slowed sharply, and mortgage rates held roughly where they've been. None of that has loosened the Berkeley market the way the national numbers might suggest. Below I walk through the...
June brought two significant developments that will shape the rate and inflation outlook for the rest of the year. The Federal Reserve, now under new chair Kevin Warsh, sent its clearest hawkish signal yet at its June 17 meeting, putting a rate hike on the table by...
SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are heading to the public markets. Here is how and when that wealth might reach the Berkeley real estate market after a tech IPO and how I'd plan around it as a buyer or a seller. Short answer The largest IPO wave in a generation is...
The past month delivered a jolt of inflation driven by energy prices, a jobs market holding steady but not growing, and a Federal Reserve more publicly divided than it has been in more than three decades. In Berkeley, the spring market seems largely indifferent to all...
The first quarter of 2026 ended with a jolt. A gasoline-driven inflation spike, a geopolitical shock in the Middle East, and a Federal Reserve firmly on hold have reshaped the rate outlook for the rest of the year. Here in Berkeley, though, the spring market is...