Tony Janowicz Real Estate and Investment Group

08/25/2026

Take a closer look at four different ways you can decrease your cost of living this year.

Decrease your cost of living and save more each month.

08/24/2026

Real Estate Morning Update
for Southern California
Monday, August 24, 2026

Bessent’s Heroic Effort to Tame Long-Term Rates

Stocks are lower and Mortgage Bonds are trading near unchanged levels to start week. They may begin to move higher throughout the day, as 10-year Treasury yields are down 4bp and improving, after an announcement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent said that he could use the TGA (Treasury General Account), which is like the Treasury’s checking account, to fund Bond buybacks. Last week, Bessent doubled the Treasury’s buybacks of longer-dated Treasuries from $2.7B/month to $5.4B/month. Initially, Bonds rallied on the news, but it was short-lived. The market likely realized the increase was relatively small compared to the issuance out there and previous amounts seen through Quantitative Easing.

Bessent was interviewed last week after the announcement and unprompted, the first thing he said was the Treasury would be buying at least double what they previously were… likely trying to send a signal to the markets more could be coming and he would be trying to reduce long-term rates.

The announcement this morning is also helping yields move lower, as he said he could use the TGA to fund additional buybacks. The TGA has grown under Bessent to almost $1 trillion, which is significantly higher than where it has been over the last few years when it was closer to $700 billion. If the Treasury were to use the TGA, they could potentially do significant buybacks, but we will have to wait to get more clarity.

Bessent will also be holding a press conference at 2:00pm ET to announce “economic D-day” or new sanctions the US plans to impose on Iran. The markets will be watching this closely and its impact on oil prices and the situation in the Middle East.

Ghost Jobs
There has been mounting evidence the labor market is not as strong as many, including voting Fed members, believe. The latest BLS Jobs report showed jobs were lost in July, with big negative revisions to the previous two months. Additionally, ADP has been weakening consistently for roughly two months.

Job openings have been stable, but according to hiring platform Greenhouse, nearly 1 in 5 online job postings are “ghost jobs.”

The article explained the digital job ads resulted in no subsequent hiring activity and companies may use these listings to build candidate pipelines, test the talent pool or appear to be growing. Making it worse is the fact many of these ghost jobs, and job listings in general, are counted more than once because openings are counted at the state level and post-Covid, job openings can be posted in multiple states with work from anywhere.

PCE Preview
The Fed’s favored inflation gauge, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), will be released Wednesday morning for the month of July.

The market is expecting headline or the all-in inflation reading to rise somewhere between 0.1% to 0.2%, and for the year-over-year figure to remain at 3.7%.

The Core reading, which strips out food and energy prices, is expecting to rise 0.2% in July and for the year-over-year figure to be unchanged at 3.3%.

While the monthly readings are expect to be tame, the figures they are replacing from last year were low, which is why there is not any progress expected year over year.

Portfolio management can be a big influence within this report. Within the PPI report, it rose 6.5%... and PCE shares the same component. Based on the weighting, the portfolio management item alone will likely add over 0.1% to the core reading.

Thankfully, the BEA is finally looking at portfolio management and the fact it is resulting in close to 0.5% of year-over-year inflation, but it’s not indeed real inflation. It is rising because portfolio values have risen thanks to Stock prices moving higher, but fees have in fact been moving lower and have been deflationary. The adjustment from the BEA, which will first show up in the August reading released in September, is expected to cause year-over-year inflation to decelerate by at least 0.2%.

News This Week
Tuesday: ADP Weekly Employment Data, Case-Shiller & FHFA Appreciation Reports, New Home Sales

Wednesday: Mortgage Applications, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data, Q2 GDP (second reading), Durable Goods Orders

Thursday: Jobless Claims

Friday: QCEW jobs revisions, Warsh speech at Jackson Hole Symposium

So what does all this mean to you and your specific real estate needs, goals, and dreams 🏡 Please send Tony Janowicz Real Estate and Investment Group DRE # 02116340 NMLS # 2687638 a direct message or call/text 714-269-3691, because the team and I would love ❤️ to continue the conversat ion and help you too 💯 buy, sell, or invest in real estate for the best price 💵 with the best terms 📑 For more information check out our website https://TonyJanoREIG.com/ with more details about all our services 🤩

08/24/2026

Painter Joe A. Oakes discusses his long path to becoming an artist and his work's focus on color and nature.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Light From The Shadows Life & Culture | By Matthew Brady | 0 Likes SHARE Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More PAINTER JOE A. OAKES DISCUSSES HIS LONG PATH TO BECOMING AN ARTIST AND HIS WORK’S FOCUS ON COLOR AND NATURE. Has art always been part of your life? My parents encourage...

08/23/2026

Before you pay another medical bill, read this to make sure you aren't overpaying.

Before you pay another medical bill, read this to make sure you aren't overpaying.

08/22/2026

This aloe vera cream DIY will save you from that awful sunburn!

If the summer sun singed your skin, take heart in knowing that this soothing cream can help you feel better.

08/21/2026

Real Estate Morning Update
for Southern California
Friday, August 21, 2026

3% Home Price Appreciation Still Builds Meaningful Wealth

Stocks are higher and Mortgage Bonds are slightly lower to start the day.

ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) Home Price Index - Mortgage rates have been on the rise and remain the focal point for most potential buyers. And while they are always important, it can be very effective to focus on the opportunity of tomorrow, especially given the resilient levels of appreciation we are seeing across most of the country.

ICE released their home price index for August, showing home values nationwide on average rose by 0.21%. Year over year, they increased by 1.71%, which is the highest annual growth rate in 14 months.

Looking at the past six months of data and annualizing, ICE’s appreciation rates are on track for about 3% appreciation, which is right in line with our forecast. It’s also important to note that ICE seasonally adjusts their numbers, which means it takes into account the seasonal strength seen in the spring months and adjusts accordingly.

Appreciation calculations illustrate the opportunity in home ownership. Give me a call and I will run the numbers for your specific location and market. I can pull in historical and forecasted appreciation, as well as custom rates.

Using a 3% rate of appreciation on a $500,000 home, a homeowner would gain $15,000 in the first year, $80,000 over 5 years, and $171,000 over 10 years.

Three percent appreciation may not sound like a lot, but over time it can be a powerful wealth-building tool. Homeowners benefit in two ways: the property can appreciate while the mortgage balance is being paid down. And thanks to amortization, the longer you own the home, the more of each payment goes toward principal… essentially creating a built-in savings plan while your equity continues to grow.

Walmart Q2 Earnings
Walmart released their Q2 earnings report, showing more signs of consumer stress. Walmart is the largest grocer and retailer in the country, so it gives some good signals and reads on the consumer.

Sales, when removing fuel, rose by 2.6%... which was beneath expectations and the slowest growth in 6 years. Additionally, consumers still made a similar amount of transactions, but their spend per transaction fell by more than half. Walmart said consumer are trading down and there were more higher income shoppers trying to save money.

Walmart is getting a significant tariff refund, they are using the money to reduce prices, showing they are willing to pass along price decreases to consumers even though they are struggling.

Bottom line – There have been several reports lately showing the consumer is under duress. While many think the Fed should hike, and the Bond market would likely react favorably, it may not be the right thing for the economy. Recent inflation reports have been tame and the jobs data has been weakening. And if the Fed were to hike, it would not impact oil prices, but it would cause consumers to spend more on credit cards, car loans, and anything else variable. It would exacerbate the situation consumers are already facing, and has the potential to be a catalyst for a recession.

This brings us to next week’s Jackson Hole meeting, where Kevin Warsh will be speaking next Friday. Historically, this has been an important meeting used to signal policy change. If the Fed were planning on hiking, this would be a spot for Warsh to signal to the markets what is coming. We know, however, Warsh does not believe in being as transparent as the Fed has been in the past and he does not want to give forward guidance. It will be interesting to see what he says and it will be a very important meeting the markets will be focused on.

News Next Week
Tuesday: ADP Weekly Employment Data, Case-Shiller & FHFA Appreciation Reports, New Home Sales

Wednesday: Mortgage Applications, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data, Q2 GDP (second reading), Durable Goods Orders

Thursday: Jobless Claims

Friday: QCEW jobs revisions, Warsh speech at Jackson Hole Symposium

So what does all this mean to you and your specific real estate needs, goals, and dreams 🏡 Please send Tony Janowicz Real Estate and Investment Group DRE # 02116340 NMLS # 2687638 a direct message or call/text 714-269-3691, because the team and I would love ❤️ to continue the conversation and help you too 💯 buy, sell, or invest in real estate for the best price 💵 with the best terms 📑 For more information check out our website https://TonyJanoREIG.com/ with more details about all our services 🤩

08/21/2026

This traveling USO-style song-and-dance extravaganza is bringing joy to thousands of American veterans.

This traveling USO-style song-and-dance extravaganza is bringing joy to thousands of American veterans.

08/20/2026

Real Estate Morning Update
Thursday, August 20, 2026

Treasury Induced Rally Fades, Fed Minutes Breakdown, and Oil on the Rise

Stocks and Mortgage Bonds are both moving lower to start the day. The Mortgage Bond rally yesterday, sparked by the Treasury buyback announcement, was very short-lived, as we had feared. Bonds are now right back where they started, as markets appear to have digested the fact additional purchases are relatively small, especially given our enormous and rapidly growing debt load.

Additionally, news from the Middle East is causing oil prices to rise to $89/barrel, which is pressuring the markets lower. The UAE has suspended all financial and economic transactions with Iran, accusing them of firing two ballistic missiles. Adding to the negative news: President Trump said there were no talks taking place with Iran and he threatened the most “crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” if they don’t come to the table.

Diesel prices are up almost 50% since the start of the war, with refining costs at record highs. This is important because diesel accounts for 90% of all land based freight shipping and can bleed over into other aspects of the economy.

Fed Minutes Breakdown
The Fed Minutes from the July 29 Fed Meeting were released yesterday afternoon. It’s important to note that these are three weeks old and before the latest BLS Jobs Report and CPI/PPI Inflation reports.

Most Fed members supported leaving rates unchanged, but many said they believed a hike would be necessary if inflation doesn’t decline. They also said the labor market was seen as stable… but again, both of these comments were before the Jobs Report showing job losses and very tame CPI/PPI inflation data. It will be interesting to see if some of the Fed hawks change their tune going forward.

Something else very interesting came out of the Fed Minutes. Fed Chair Warsh expressed his support for reducing the amount of times the Fed meets from eight meetings per year to six. He explained this would give more time for data to accumulate and time to consider strategic monetary policy issues.

The next Fed Meeting is September 16 and right now the Fed Futures are placing odds at 32% for a 25bp hike, but of course this will change as we get closer and get more data.

Cotality Single Family Rent Report
Cotality released their Single Family Rent Report for June, showing Rental prices are up 1.5% year over year. This is a slight increase from May, which showed 1.3%, but still much lower than this time last year.

Last June rental prices were rising at 2.5% year over year, so we have clearly seen a cooling, which has helped the housing/shelter readings within the CPI/PCE inflation reports and helped keep inflation tame in the latest reports.

Jobless Claims
Initial jobless claims, which measure individuals filing for unemployment benefits for the first time, fell 6,000 to 206,000. This figure continues to remain muted and underscores the low hire/low fire labor environment.

Continuing claims, or those who continue to stay on benefits after their initial claim, rose 18,000 to 1.79M.

So what does all this mean to you and your specific real estate needs, goals, and dreams 🏡 Please send Tony Janowicz Real Estate and Investment Group DRE # 02116340 NMLS # 2687638 a direct message or call/text 714-269-3691, because the team and I would love ❤️ to continue the conversat ion and help you too 💯 buy, sell, or invest in real estate for the best price 💵 with the best terms 📑 For more information check out our website https://TonyJanoREIG.com/ with more details about all our services 🤩

08/20/2026

Coming Soon: October 1, 2026

Forward: I would choose Tony Janowicz as my real estate agent because his approach goes far beyond simply finding a property or closing a transaction. Tony believes preparation should come before pressure, and buying or selling a home deserves clear thinking, honest communication, and sound judgment.

What stands out most is his commitment to helping clients understand their options so they can make decisions with confidence. His decades of leadership, negotiation, and business experience bring discipline to the process, but he never loses sight of the fact real estate decisions are deeply personal.

Tony approaches his work as an advisor and advocate, not a salesperson. He asks good questions, communicates clearly, protects his clients’ interests, and is willing to say when something may not be the right decision.

I would want an agent who treats my home and my future with that level of care, preparation, integrity, and stewardship.

So what does all this mean to you and your specific real estate needs, goals, and dreams 🏡 Please send Tony Janowicz Real Estate and Investment Group DRE # 02116340 NMLS # 2687638 a direct message or call/text 714-269-3691, because the team and I would love ❤️ to continue the conversat ion and help you too 💯 buy, sell, or invest in real estate for the best price 💵 with the best terms 📑 For more information check out our website https://TonyJanoREIG.com/ with more details about all our services 🤩

08/20/2026

Create a beautiful wildlife oasis in your yard with these tips.

Tips to help you create a relaxing refuge for animals near your home.