The August Group Inc. is your source for dependable Real Estate Appraisals in Saint Louis City and the following counties in Missouri; St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren, Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Francois.Whether it's an older home or luxurious new construction, Jeffrey Noyes' experience and hours of study as licensed appraiser make him qualified to provide home valuations in Saint Louis City, St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren, Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Francois County for clients ranging from national mortgage companies to local lenders or individual businesses and consumers.
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| Roughly Unchanged After Gradual Weakness | ||
| 7/17/2026 3:35 PM | ||
| Roughly Unchanged After Gradual Weakness Bonds ended the day roughly unchanged despite this morning"s stronger start. With the S&P falling back to the lows of the day, we can"t really blame asset allocation trading between stocks and bonds. It"s easier to blame a mid-day surge in fuel prices (especially...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Rates End Week at Lows | ||
| 7/17/2026 1:41 PM | ||
| The good news is that mortgage rates ended the day at their lowest levels of the week. That"s welcome news after Monday"s rates matched the highest seen since July 2025. Today"s improvement came courtesy of weakness in the stock market, which is not necessarily a common or reliable source of inspiration for rates these days. But a majority of this ...Read More | ||
| Housing Starts Snap Back as May"s Multifamily Drop Proves Short-Lived | ||
| 7/17/2026 12:59 PM | ||
| Residential construction rebounded in June as housing starts and completions recovered from May"s unusually weak levels, though building permits continued to trend lower. The latest Census Bureau data suggests that while builders remain cautious about future projects, construction activity itself regained momentum after last month"s sharp pullback....Read More | ||
| Pending Home Sales Decline But Remain Broadly Range-Bound | ||
| 7/17/2026 12:51 PM | ||
| Pending home sales declined in June as elevated mortgage rates and record-high home prices continued to weigh on buyer demand. The National Association of Realtors" Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), which tracks signed contracts on existing homes, fell 5.4% from May and was down 0.3% compared with a year earlier. The latest report suggests affo...Read More | ||
| Builder Confidence Remains Stuck Near Post-Recession Lows | ||
| 7/17/2026 12:40 PM | ||
| Builder sentiment weakened further in July as affordability challenges and ongoing economic uncertainty continued to weigh on the market for new single-family homes. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) slipped two points to 34 , marking the 15th consecutive month the index has remained below 40...Read More | ||
| Higher Refi Demand Despite Higher Rates | ||
| 7/17/2026 12:31 PM | ||
| Mortgage application volume declined again last week as higher borrowing costs weighed on home purchase demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 2.7% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 10, even as refinance activity posted a modest rebound. Purchase applications fell 7% ...Read More | ||
| Broker and Corresp. Products; Verification, POS, Flood Cert. Tools; AI Governance; Vacancy Stats | ||
| 7/17/2026 10:44 AM | ||
| I was speaking with a friend recently, and I asked her what she does for lunch. She replied, “Zentangle.” Yup, it’s a thing, something that wasn’t around when I was a kid. When I was a kid, people living on the street were known as homeless. Now the term is the “unhoused.” When I was a kid, any vacant house was usually creepy and rumored to have so...Read More | ||
| Bonds Picking Up Some Safe-Haven Demand | ||
| 7/17/2026 8:35 AM | ||
| In a month where bonds have made a visible reconnection with fuel prices thanks to the Iran war resurgence, there have been several notable departures in the correlation. Today is the latest example. If we"re splitting hairs, we can still observe yields and fuel prices generally moving in the same direction overnight, but when fuel prices surged be...Read More | ||
| Ultimately Uneventful Despite Modest Weakness | ||
| 7/16/2026 3:46 PM | ||
| Ultimately Uneventful Despite Modest Weakness Bonds lost ground modestly today with the ultimate damage being roughly an eighth of a point for MBS and less than a bp for 10yr yields. The selling was led by the short end of the curve (i.e. 2yr yields were up 1.5bps). There wasn"t any obvious catalyst apart f...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Higher | ||
| 7/16/2026 2:27 PM | ||
| While some news stories suggest that rates are the highest in 11 months today, that"s not quite true. The highest rates of the year were seen on July 13th and May 19th when our 30yr fixed index hit 6.75%. The index was at 6.68% today, up from 6.64% yesterday. Any news regarding "highest rates since August 2025" is almost certainly citing Freddie M...Read More | ||