Cathleen Callen: Your Hometown Realtor in the Western Suburbs

10/31/2025

Thanks Tom Michalek of United Home Loans for this great market summary call Me or Tom to get the buying sellingpro ess started. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced this year’s second rate cut of 0.25%, bringing us to the lowest Federal Reserve rate in three years. Will mortgage rates go down further? How are the markets reacting? This Friday, we have a memo on what the rate cut means for your buyers. Spoiler alert: We don’t know yet, and here’s why.

“... not a foregone conclusion…”
Remember, mortgage rates typically fall in anticipation of a rate cut, and not because a rate cut has happened. Wednesday’s cut was expected to be the second of three total this year. Well, something that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during the announcement has temporarily thrown the anticipation of the third one up in the air. The key takeaway quote was, “A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it.”
Without key data
At the close of the markets on Wednesday, one might describe the overall reaction as “mixed feelings.” Adding to the uncertainty of Powell’s statement is the fact that this rate cut was made without some of the key federal economic data that typically backs up a cut, due to the government shutdown. The Fed qualified the cut with an assessment of broad economic conditions, but that’s not a metric the markets can really go by. Without access to inflation and jobs reports, again, anticipation is hard to formulate.

The good news is that the average 30-year rate has already fallen by 0.58% since the anticipation of the last rate cut started. Whether rates inch up or down, your buyers are still in a much better position right now to secure an affordable mortgage.

If you missed last week’s email, check out what the dollar amount difference is when it comes to inching rates. It might give your buyers more peace of mind than any market behavior could. In the meantime, I will be standing by, ready to update you on rates and predictions in the coming weeks.

10/20/2025

Bittersweet moment as the Tomlinson’s say goodbye to their home of 60 years. They were so sweet as are the lovely flowers they gave me. I hope they enjoy their new lake view!

02/18/2025

Happy Seller! On to the next home😀🏡

10/11/2024

Wondering how prices are in your area? Here are a few of the surrounding neighborhoods. 

08/10/2024

https://www.thehinsdalean.com/story/2024/08/08/experts/agent-profile-cathie-callen-coldwell-banker/8186.html

For Coldwell Banker agent Cathie Callen, real estate is about problem solving. "It's like a puzzle," Callen said, the pieces of which are different for every person she helps to buy or sell a home. An agent since 2006, Callen said she enjoys helping buyers find a home that meets their physical needs...

07/01/2024

06/15/2024

Coldwell Banker has the listing of two of my kids favorite houses!

03/05/2024

https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/styled-staged-sold/colors-to-avoid-when-selling-a-home?utm_term=62445C74-8715-4F58-A343-F279C82A1826&lrh=7e7954b700433535a487c0338d307989b8d6d2730a684d8c0542cad67a7c3e33&utm_campaign=3BFA9068-DFBC-477B-BC94-C168B9A999F1&nwsltr=navnar&utm_content=53E91BE4-FBFE-4EA4-B20A-01BF08159CD5

Adding color is a hot trend in home design lately, but be careful which color you choose.

02/14/2024

https://tour.vht.com/434366541

VHT Virtual Tour

12/14/2023

Sharing some good news delivered by our great GRRate team member Kevin Danforth about exciting news for mortgages:

Good evening Team CB,
Today was the single best day for mortgage rates in months and I just wanted to share the news!

In summary the FED policy stayed exactly as expected that was announced today (no increase or reduction to their target rate) but the FED finally hinted at what the market has been trading the last few weeks in that rate cuts are likely in 2024 (the current FED members estimated about .75% in rate cuts during 2024 per their DOT chart predictions that they released today which was a big reversal from their last estimate in Sept)

The FED chair also said in his press conference today that they would have to pull back their policy well before inflation hits their 2% target hinting that we may not have to wait for inflation to hit their 2% target before they make their policy more accommodating (due to the lag time it takes for policy adjustments to take effect within the economy)

Although this doesn’t mean that we are out of the woods yet with higher rates or that friendly low rates going back two years ago are anywhere it sight (they are not) but in summary rates have improved by about .25% in the last 24 hours and we are now officially over 100 basis points (1 full point) lower in rate on most products today than we were 5 weeks ago when rates peaked. The FED still reserves the right to change/adjust their policy accordingly as data continues to come out in the coming months of course but today was good news for our buyers (and also those sellers who are focused on rate/affordability before they consider to sell and buy a new home going into 2024)

I can’t stress this enough, but if you have a borrower locked with a lender who wont renegotiate their rate prior to closing please have them reach out to your preferred GRA representative as we can work with them and get them current rates and in most cases still get their loan closed inside of 10 days if their current lender won’t work with them on improving their locked rate. Or if you have any buyers who were hesitant due to where rates were at when they reached their highest point please have them talk to once of us at GRA so that we can update their preapproval and reassess their purchasing power/options

I can share a full quick summary is below if you want to reach out. As always if you need anything or have any questions please reach out to one of us for help. Have a great night!💰🏡🏡Cathleen Callen: Your Hometown Realtor in the Western Suburbs

08/25/2023

#3 In the top 10 in Will County

Our thanks to Midwest Real Estate Data LLC for providing information for this report. MRED supplies figures for Real Data to Agent Publishing LLC, which adjusts the figures based on documents provided by agents and managing brokers. While Agent Publishing works to ensure its data is accurate, Agent....

07/11/2023

Here is a quick look at a few of our suburbs!