By Francesca Hangeior

Sales of previously owned US homes fell in August, according to industry data released Thursday, but lower mortgage rates and growing supply were likely to boost the industry.

Existing home sales dropped 2.5 percent last month from July to an annual rate of 3.86 million, seasonally adjusted, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

This was largely in line with the 3.90 million consensus that analysts expected.

“Home sales were disappointing again in August, but the recent development of lower mortgage rates coupled with increasing inventory is a powerful combination that will provide the environment for sales to move higher in future months,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

Homebuyers in the United States have been grappling with a sharp rise in mortgage rates after the US central bank rapidly lifted the benchmark lending rate in 2022 to tackle inflation.

But with growing expectations that the Federal Reserve was going to pivot to rate cuts after holding rates at a decades-high level for months, mortgage rates have also shifted lower.

The popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.2 percent as of September 12, according to mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac — reaching the lowest level since February 2023.

A year ago, the rate was around 7.2 percent.

On Wednesday, the Fed kicked off a process of easing monetary policy with a bold half-percentage-point rate reduction, adding to expectations that mortgage rates would fall further.

“Existing home sales fell to a 10-month low in August, but forward looking indicators like mortgage applications point to a pickup in sales in September and October,” said economist Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics.

But Oliver Allen of Pantheon Macroeconomics cautioned that a mortgage rate of six percent remains “well above the average rate of about four percent on the stock of existing mortgages.”

“So moving home and taking out a new mortgage still requires a prohibitive jump in monthly payments for most current homeowners,” he said in a note.

“As such, a constrained supply of existing homes for sale will continue to hold back sales,” Allen added.

Compared with a year ago, NAR data showed that existing home sales were 4.2 percent down in August.

The median price increased 3.1 percent from August 2023 to $416,700, with all four US regions seeing price jumps.

Yun told a media call on Thursday that although home sales are struggling, home prices remained high.

Facebook parent company Meta is banning RT and other Russian state media networks from its platforms over claims they carried out covert operations to influence social media users.

The ban, which was announced on Monday, will globally block the accounts from Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads users over the coming days.

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets,” said Meta, which already restricted activity from the accounts.

“Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity.”

Rossiya Segodnya runs news brands including Sputnik and Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

RT had responded to Sky News agency that Meta “censoring information flow to the rest of the world”

“Don’t worry, where they close a door, and then a window, our ‘partisans’ (or in your parlance, guerrilla fighters) will find the cracks to crawl through,” their spokesperson said.

“It’s cute how there’s a competition in the West – who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better,” they added.

The Kremlin said Meta was “discrediting itself” by banning the networks from its platforms.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable.”

He added the move complicated prospects for Moscow normalising relations with the company.

The ban comes after the United States filed money-laundering charges earlier this month against two RT employees for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat the activities of Russian state broadcaster RT as they do covert intelligence operations.

“We’re exposing how Russia deploys similar tactics around the world,” Mr Blinken said.

“Russian weaponisation of disinformation to subvert and polarise free and open societies extends to every part of the world.”

In July, the US Department of Justice shut down nearly 1,000 social media bot accounts it said were created to spread Russian disinformation in the US.

It linked the accounts to RT, a state-owned broadcaster, accusing one of their senior employees of creating the bot farm which was used to “advance the mission of the FSB and the Russian government”.

When the media company was asked for a response to those allegations, RT replied: “Farming is a beloved pastime for millions of Russians.”

Following the second assassination attempt of Former President Donald Trump in the Florida golf course ahead of the US Presidential elections, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated,‘ I am glad he is safe’. The shooting took place at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. After the news broke out, Kamala Harris shared a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and said there is no place for violence in America.

“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 15, 2024

According to the White House, both the Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been informed about the security incident of the Former President when he was golfing on Sunday and are both “relieved to know” that Donald Trump is safe, reported CNN.

“The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team,” stated the White House.

Meanwhile, the suspect involved in Sunday’s shooting incident at Trump’s Florida Golf Course has been taken into custody, CNN reported, citing a Facebook post from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

“The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team,” according to a statement from the White House.

Meanwhile, a suspect, who, according to the officials, is connected to Sunday’s shooting incident at Trump’s Florida Golf Course, has been taken into custody, CNN reported, citing a Facebook post from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

The sheriff’s office “has stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody,” the post said. According to the office, a portion of Interstate 95 close to State Route 714 in Martin County is closed. Trump is “safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” the Trump Campaign said in a statement on Sunday, CNN reported.