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Today: FOMC rate decision drops Wednesday, housing starts fell for a third straight month, and the WSJ/Realtor.com summer housing ranking confirms the South is tilting toward buyers while Midwest markets dominate affordability. No Columbia-specific data today, but the macro signals are clear and actionable.
Big week ahead: FOMC decision Wednesday, Case-Shiller Tuesday, Freddie Mac rates Thursday. The Realtor.com weekly outlook flags the FOMC interest rate decision on July 29, Case-Shiller Home Price Index on July 28, and the Census Bureau Housing Vacancy Survey the same day. For Columbia agents and investors, the FOMC statement is the one to watch. Hold language means rates stay in the 6.8% range; any hawkish shift on inflation (the Iran conflict is still pressuring CPI) pushes the 10-year yield higher and mortgage rates with it. Do not price listings or write offers this week without a rate-lock strategy that accounts for Thursday's Freddie Mac release. Source
Housing starts dropped for a third consecutive month. The headline is national, but the signal matters locally. Fewer starts mean the new-construction pipeline in Lexington County and Northeast Columbia subdivisions is thinning. For resale agents, this is a medium-term positive: less builder competition 12-18 months out. For investors tracking land and lot prices in Chapin, Irmo, and Blythewood, declining starts combined with steady population growth tighten future supply. Monitor Richland and Lexington County permit offices for confirmation of the local slowdown. Source
WSJ/Realtor.com summer ranking: the South is a buyer's market, and that includes Columbia. The ranking confirms a sharp regional divide. Northeast and Midwest markets have demand outpacing supply, keeping sellers in control. The South and West are finding more balance, giving buyers and sellers room to negotiate. Columbia falls squarely in the "more balanced" camp. The top-20 ranked markets are overwhelmingly Midwest and Mid-Atlantic metros where median incomes are within 8% of what's needed to buy (vs. 20% below nationally). Columbia's affordability is better than the coastal metros but worse than the Ohio and Illinois markets dominating this list. Takeaway: if you're listing in Richland County, price to the balanced-market reality, not to 2023's seller-market memory. Buyers have leverage here and they know it. Source
Data center wildcatting is a national land play, and the Midlands should be watching. A new wave of entrepreneurs is buying land near power transmission lines, securing utility agreements, and flipping parcels to hyperscalers at massive markups. One 1,900-acre site sold for $200 million and will become a $15 billion Oracle/OpenAI data center. The movement is spreading beyond Northern Virginia into rural areas with fewer regulations and available power. Richland and Lexington counties have Dominion Energy transmission infrastructure, I-77/I-26 corridor access, and relatively cheap land. This is speculative, but if any SC site gets into the data center pipeline, the surrounding commercial and residential markets would see a Fort Jackson-scale economic impact. Commercial brokers should be mapping parcels near major substations and monitoring utility interconnection filings. Source
GLP-1 drugs are reshaping retail tenant mix. People on weight-loss drugs cut fast-food spending 8% and sweets 10%. Hooters and TGI Fridays filed bankruptcy; Pizza Hut, Wendy's, and Outback closed locations. Gyms and wellness concepts are backfilling those spaces. For Columbia commercial landlords with restaurant-heavy tenant rosters along Harbison Boulevard or in the Vista, this is a lease renewal risk to model. Wellness, med spa, and boutique fitness tenants are the most active categories nationally. If you have a vacancy from a casual dining closure, pivot your marketing toward these concepts. Source
AI-native land acquisition tools are compressing builder timelines. Prophetic and similar platforms can analyze a parcel's development potential in minutes instead of hours, and they're unlocking off-market land (only 1.5-2% of 160 million U.S. parcels are listed at any time). For Columbia-area land brokers and builder reps, this means national builders can now identify and pursue Midlands parcels without local relationships. The competitive moat of "I know every landowner in Lexington County" is eroding. Local brokers should evaluate whether tools like these can help them source off-market deals faster, or risk losing to out-of-market buyers who already use them. Source
AI vendor liability is the servicer's problem, not the vendor's. Three separate AI governance frameworks are now in effect: OCC Bulletin 2026-13 (vendor models carry the same validation requirements as internal models), Freddie Mac Bulletin 2025-16 (documented AI governance with C-suite sign-off, NIST 800-53 audits, bias monitoring), and Fannie Mae LL-2026-04 (effective August 6, requires vendor AI governance to match your own standards). Fannie can demand a full inventory of every AI system you operate, without notice. For Columbia mortgage originators and servicers using AI-powered underwriting, appraisal, or servicing tools: your vendor's SOC 2 report does not satisfy model validation requirements. Review your vendor contracts for zero-training-data-use clauses and model-change notification provisions before August 6. The enforcement gap from CFPB staffing cuts will not protect you from GSE contractual liability. Source
Albuquerque building permits (Article 9) excluded as irrelevant to the Midlands. Reverse mortgage strategy piece (Article 6) and Made Card homeowner loyalty product (Article 4) excluded as national product stories with no Columbia-specific angle.