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In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 4th, 2024\u2026 why the Fed is holding firm on interest rates, what economists are saying about consumer spending, and why a NY landlord may be forced to live in one of his poorly maintained buildings. \xa0 Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you want more helpful information about real estate, the housing market, and rental property investment, please sign up for a free RealWealth membership at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast! \xa0 We begin with economic news from this past week. The big headline came from the Federal Reserve. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep short-term rates right where they are, saying there\u2019s a \u201clack of further progress\u201d on inflation. The federal funds rate has been within a range of 5.25 and 5.50% since July of 2023. There had been hope for a rate cut this spring but inflation has been inching higher instead of lower since the beginning of the year. The Fed wants to see a more sustainable decline toward the Fed\u2019s 2% target before it initiates a rate cut. \xa0 During his post-meeting speech, Fed Chief Jerome Powell emphasized that \u201cinflation is still too high\u201d and that the data has not given the central bank confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the target rate. But he did offer some assurance that it\u2019s unlikely that the Fed would be hiking rates at the next meeting. That triggered a lot of joy on Wall Street and a big stock rally. The Dow was up as much as 500 points at one point...\xa0 \xa0 Links: \xa0 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-rate-decision-may-2024-.html \xa0 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-meeting-today-live-updates-on-may-fed-rate-decision.html 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bowman-says-shes-still-willing-to-raise-rates-10c39c38?mod=mw_rss_topstories \xa0 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-inch-up-to-208-000-layoffs-still-extremely-low-7020b3f1?mod=economic-report \xa0 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-hit-new-all-time-high-case-shiller-says-in-the-face-of-economic-uncertainty-98aa35cc?mod=economic-report \xa0 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/construction-spending-posts-bigger-than-expected-drop-e0f15c88?mod=economic-report \xa0 7 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms \xa0 8 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/starbucks-mcdonalds-yum-earnings-show-consumers-pulling-back.html \xa0 9 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/jobs-report-april-2024-us-job-growth-totaled-175000-in-april.html \xa0 10 - https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news/multifamily/new-yorks-worst-landlord-indicted-on-80-counts-124094