WSJ Your Money Briefing - U.S. Home Sales Fell in August for Fifth Time in Six Months

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

Plus: U.S. stocks rally a day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as the militant group’s leader said the attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war. J.R. Whalen reports. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going back to university for zero dollar delivery fee, up to five percent off orders and five percent uber cash back on rides. Not whatever you think university is for. Get uber one for students. With deals this good, everyone wants to be a student. Join for just $4.99 a month. Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply. Here's your midday brief for Thursday, September 19th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. U.S. stocks surged today after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point. In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrials were up about 1 percent, while the S&P 500

had risen more than 1.5 percent, and the NASDAQ was up nearly 3 percent. The National Association of Realtors said U.S. home sales fell 2.5 percent in August from the month before, the fifth time sales have declined over the past six months, as the recent decline in mortgage rates failed to offset home prices that remain near record highs. Mortgage rates have come down steadily from the spring to 6.2 percent last week. According to Freddie Mac, that's the lowest level in more than a year. But with high housing prices and the inventory of homes for sale still lower than normal, many buyers are waiting for rates to fall further. News

Corp, owner of the journal, also operates Wheelchair.com, under license from NAR. Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as the militant group's leaders said the attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war. Those attacks, that caused pagers and walkie-talkies carried by thousands of the group's members to explode, killed 37 people and injured nearly 3,000. And the Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged, taking a more cautious approach than the Federal Reserve in cutting rates yesterday to tame inflation. But while it opted to hold rates at 5%, the UK's central bank said it is likely to follow

up on an August cut over the coming months. We'll have more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.