Yesterday there was an 11% chance of a Fed rate hike in June. Today the likelihood stands at 34%. The increased probability comes from the release of the minutes from the April Fed meeting yesterday where it was said that “most participants judged” that if the economy continued to make progress in the second quarter (in terms of growth, the labor market, and inflation) “then it would likely be appropriate” to hike rates in June. “Members judged that information received since the FOMC met in March indicated that labor market conditions had improved further, even as growth in economic activity had appeared to slow”. And that the committee “noted that growth in household spending had moderated, although households’ real income had risen at a solid rate and consumer sentiment had remained high.” They also noted that since the beginning of the year, the housing sector had improved further, but business fixed investment and net exports had been soft. At the same time, I thought I’d pass along this table from rent.com showing that most property managers have raised rents in the last year and most will raise them again this year–by an average of 8%
