Thinking about buying a house? You are probably watching mortgage rates almost as closely as the price of the house itself. And right now, those rates are keeping a lot of people from making a move. Existing home sales fell 1.7 percent in July compared with June, according to new housing data released this week. That puts sales at an annual pace of about 4.06 million homes. That is the second straight monthly decline. The biggest problem is pretty simple. Buying a house is still expensive. Mortgage rates moved higher during July and recently reached around 6.7 percent for a 30 year mortgage. When rates rise, even a little, the monthly payment on a house can change enough to push some families out of the market. But here is the interesting part. Fewer sales have not necessarily meant cheaper houses. The median price of an existing home in July was about $434,100. That is 2 percent higher than a year ago and not far from the record set in June. There are also fewer homes available. About 1.54 million homes were on the market at the end of July, slightly fewer than both the previous month and a year ago. That creates an unusual situation. Buyers are struggling with high prices and high interest rates. At the same time, many homeowners who already have mortgages at much lower rates have little reason to sell their house and take on a new mortgage near 7 percent. So both sides are waiting. First time buyers may be feeling this the most. They represented only 29 percent of July home sales. Historically, that number has been closer to 40 percent. For anyone thinking about buying a home, the number to keep watching may not be home prices. It may be mortgage rates. A meaningful drop in rates could make monthly payments more manageable and bring more buyers back into the market. It could also convince more current homeowners that it is finally time to sell. Until then, the housing market may continue to feel like what it has become for many families. A waiting game.

E ven though the higher standard deduction limits make charitable deductions harder to find, there are still great options to find tax breaks within your charitable giving. Here are five tips to use charitable tax breaks: Qualified charitable distributions. If you’re age 70½ or older, you can transfer up to $100,000 (or a total of $200,000 for joint filers) directly from your IRA to a qualified charitable organization without paying any tax. Because distributions done this way are not subject to federal tax, it's like contributing with pre-tax dollars. Plus, your contribution counts as a required minimum distribution for tax purposes. Appreciated securities. Donate appreciated property (like securities) to a qualified charity and you can deduct the current fair market value (FMV) of the property if you’ve owned them longer than a year. For example, if you acquired stock three years ago for $7,500 and it’s now worth $10,000, you can donate it and deduct the entire $10,000 FMV if you itemize your deductions. There’s no capital gains tax on the $2,500 appreciation in value – ever! This is a great strategy if you are close to or over the itemized deduction threshold in a given year. Bunching donations. Under current tax law, the standard deduction is more than double the historic rates, effectively lowering the amount of taxpayers who will itemize their deductions. As a result, it now makes sense to “bunch” large gifts of property, like securities (see #2), in a tax year in which you expect to itemize. Conversely, if you don’t anticipate itemizing in the current tax year, you may consider postponing donations into the next year. The idea is to get the most tax deductions possible over a multiyear period. Leverage the new charitable deduction rule. Beginning in 2026, you can now directly deduct charitable contributions without itemizing. The amount is $1,000 ($2,000 for a married filing joint tax return). Consider a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). This idea is to be used in conjunction with tips 2 and 3. With this idea, you create a Donor Advise Fund. You then donate appreciated assets (stocks) into the fund (tip 2). You donate enough in one year to exceed the standard deduction for that year (tip 3). You then donate your funds out of the DAF over the years. While the money is no longer yours, you still control what qualified charities receive the money. Note: You cannot use a DAF to qualify for the new, non-itemized charitable giving rule outlined in tip 4.  With each of these ideas, it's essential to follow the rules when donating. If not, your good intentions may not be deemed a qualified donation for tax purposes. Ask for help if you'd like to review your situation.