Summer isn’t over yet!
Grab a tube, your friends, and float your way through Louisiana’s rivers. Who’s in?
There’s still plenty of summer left to soak up the sunshine and float your worries away! Tubing Louisiana Rivers is one of those timeless traditions that never gets old. Whether you’re drifting along the Bogue Falaya, Bogue Chitto, Tchefuncte, or Amite Rivers, the cool, winding waters are the perfect escape from the heat. Grab your friends, pack a cooler, and let the current carry you through cypress-lined banks under the southern skies. It’s relaxation at its finest-lazy, refreshing, and full of laughter. The best part? You don’t need much more than a tube, sunscreen, and a good attitude. So, if you’ve been meaning to get out on the water, don’t wait until summer slips away. There’s still time to make those memories, cool off in the rivers, and enjoy one of Louisiana’s favorite pastimes before the season fades.
Truly an Historic Gem
Market Rate Update by Carol Cole, Loan Depot Area Manager NMLS# 89240
Avg rates for week ending 08/22/2025
FHA/VA/USDA 5.875% to 6.125% **
Conventional 6.125% to 6.50% **
**Rates are subject to change without notice, are based on loan amount, program, occupancy, credit score and loan to value
Week in review (8/22/25) Hello, this is Carol Cole with your weekly market update:
Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled on Friday that a rate cut could be coming, saying the “shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance.” His comments were the highlight of this week’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. So far this year, the Fed has kept its key interest rate steady while trying to balance inflation and employment, but speculation has been growing about a possible cut at their next meeting on September 17.
Just as a quick refresher: when the Fed makes changes to interest rates, they’re specifically adjusting the Fed Funds Rate, which is the short-term, overnight rate banks use when lending to one another. This rate sets the tone for other interest rates across the economy, but it doesn’t directly control mortgage rates or other long-term rates.
Turning to housing news, existing home sales rose 2% from June to July, which was a surprise since forecasts were expecting a slight drop. Inventory also saw a small increase, up 0.6% from June and nearly 16% higher than this time last year.
On the new construction side, builder confidence ticked down just a bit in August, from 33 to 32, according to the National Association of Home Builders. It’s been stuck between 32 and 34 since May and well below the 50 level that signals positive momentum.
And while July saw a surprise bump in both single-family and multi-family housing starts, the outlook for future supply remains cautious. There were 621,000 single-family homes under construction last month – that’s the lowest number since early 2021, showing that builders are pulling back a bit due to ongoing uncertainty in the market.
