Did the Election Freeze the Fed? GDP, Davenport CDD Costs and Holiday Listings

By Brenden Rendo, Realtor · Updated October 29, 2026

The economy grew at a 3.40% annual rate last quarter, and the Federal Reserve still held rates the day before, with two members voting to raise them. On this week's Orlando Real Estate Buzz, Brenden Rendo and mortgage co-host Joseph Dionne, Managing Partner at Appli Home Loans, worked through what that means for a buyer's payment in Central Florida, what a community development district really adds to a Davenport tax bill, and whether a seller should pull a listing for the holidays.

The economy grew faster, and the Fed still held

The first estimate of third-quarter GDP came out the morning of the episode: real growth at a 3.40% annual rate, up from 2.20% in the second quarter, per the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Inflation inside the same report slowed, with the PCE price index at 2.10%. It is a first estimate, and the BEA revises it on Nov. 25.

The question on the show was what is paying for the growth. Much of the talk around this quarter credits spending on artificial intelligence, and the hosts wanted to know how much of it is borrowed: "What's the debt that we're accumulating, that these companies are accumulating, to generate all this growth?" The comparison that came up was Amazon's early years, when losses ran for years before the business paid off. Both hosts landed in the same place: the spending is real, and so is the risk if the payoff takes longer than planned.

The day before, the Federal Open Market Committee held its target range at 3.75% to 4.00%. The vote was 10-2. Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack preferred to raise the range by a quarter point. For buyers waiting on the Fed to bring rates down, that is the detail that matters: the argument inside the Fed right now is about raising, not cutting.

No October rate hike before an election since 2000

The common read going into the meeting was that the Fed would not raise rates days before an election. Brenden went back through every federal election year since 2000 to test it. In 14 election years, counting this one, the Fed has never raised rates at an October meeting. It held five times, cut twice, both in 2008, and in 8 of the 13 years before this one it did not hold an October meeting at all. The FOMC calendar puts the next meeting on Dec. 8 and 9, 41 days after this one.

The episode does not claim the Fed acted for political reasons. The record says something narrower: an October hike before an election has not happened in the 21st century, so this week's hold was the expected outcome. December is the meeting to watch, after the holiday sales numbers are in.

Mortgage rates and the pre-approval that shrank

Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average was 7.24% on Oct. 29, down from 7.32% a week earlier and its lowest of the month. Joseph said the rates his clients are quoted run from 6.875% to 7.80% for standard loans, depending on the client, and that lenders are pricing cautiously because rates have moved so much from one day to the next.

His most practical point was about pre-approvals. "People that got pre-approved at the beginning of September were qualified for 5% less mid-October." Rates have eased since, so some of that buying power has come back, but a pre-approval letter is a snapshot of one day's rate.

What a CDD adds to a Davenport tax bill

The previous week's episode on short sales in Davenport drew a wave of questions about CDDs, so Brenden pulled 20 recent resales in Davenport, in Polk County: 10 in a community development district and 10 outside one. All were single-family resales built from 2015 to 2024, 1,800 to 2,800 square feet, sold for $330,000 to $450,000 in the past 12 months. He then checked every home's 2025 bill on the Polk County Property Appraiser site rather than trusting the listing.

The property tax itself was nearly identical on both sides. The difference is the CDD: $192 a month on average, and a total bill $184 a month, or about $2,213 a year, higher. The CDD charges in the sample ranged from $1,155 to $3,619 a year. The CDD homes also sold for less, a median $356,500 against $407,500, so their owners pay more each year on a cheaper house.

In buying-power terms, the rule of thumb on the show put the $192 at about $30,000 of purchase price. At Freddie Mac's 7.24%, $192 a month is the payment on about $28,000 of loan, so the estimate holds. As Brenden put it, the two communities "could be less than a mile" apart.

What a CDD is, and how long you pay it

Joseph asked the question most buyers have: what is a CDD in plain language? A community development district is a special-purpose local government created under Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes. It borrows, usually through bonds, to build a new community's roads, water, sewer and drainage, and the homeowners inside it repay that debt through a charge on their property tax bill. As Brenden explained, the infrastructure costs millions up front, and the CDD is how that cost is recovered from the people who live there.

Most CDD bills carry two parts. The debt portion ends when the district's bonds are paid off, so you can look up when your district borrowed and work out how many years remain. The operations and maintenance portion keeps going, because the district still maintains what it built. Before you buy, ask the district manager for both numbers and the year the debt is scheduled to end.

Joseph's question on air was whether a one-time charge at purchase would be better than decades of payments. Brenden's answer: CDDs grew fastest where whole communities went up at once, around Davenport, Haines City and Kissimmee, and builders were not willing to absorb the cost in their margins. His bottom line for a buyer weighing two similar homes: a slightly older house outside a CDD, with some paint and updates, can cost less every month for years.

Compass, the MLSs and Open Real Estate

Disclosure first: Brenden is a NextHome agent, and NextHome is owned by AGNT, the parent company of eXp Realty.

Eight MLSs are now suing Compass over rules that require listings to be shared with the MLS shortly after an agent starts marketing them. They are asking the courts to declare those rules lawful. Stellar MLS, the MLS for Central Florida, is not a party to either suit. The MLS trade group is also forming a legal fund of more than $1 million, per Real Estate News. Brenden sides with the MLSs: an MLS is a cooperative its members choose to join, and its rules are what keep every listing in front of every buyer.

Then, on Oct. 26, four of the largest brokerage groups announced Open Real Estate: AGNT, HomeServices of America, Keller Williams and Real REMAX Group. Per Real Estate News, agents would enter a listing once and have it shared with participating brokerages and syndicated to local MLSs and home search sites. No launch date has been set; the group expects to pick a technology vendor in early 2027. Brenden's take, even with his own brokerage's parent company among the founders: it is one more layer between an agent and the MLS, with its own rules. He would rather see a national MLS, or local MLSs that keep cooperating with each other.

Last week's closings in the four counties

Per Stellar MLS, 602 homes closed in Orange, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties from Oct. 19 to 25. That is up from 560 the week before and 9.47% below the 665 that closed in the same week of 2025. The median sale price was $387,250, against $382,000 a year earlier.

One week is a small sample, and a few late-reported closings can still be added. Counts exclude listings whose sellers opted out of internet display, and prices are close prices before any seller concessions. For the longer view, see the Central Florida housing market hub.

Should you pull your listing for the holidays?

This is the question sellers ask every fall, and the full analysis is in last week's deep dive on pulling a listing for the holidays. The short version from the episode:

• Half came back. Of 4,462 listings in the four counties that came off the market in the fourth quarter of 2025 (canceled, expired or withdrawn), 50.13% had relisted by Oct. 27, 2026, after a median 71 days off the market.
• Most came back cheaper. 60.13% of the relists returned below their last fall asking price, at a median cut of 3.67%.
• Spring barely paid more. For single-family homes, spring 2025 listings closed at 96.41% of original ask and fall listings at 96.27%, a gap of 0.14 points.
• Staying listed went with better results. Among homes live on Nov. 15, 2025 and still unsold on Dec. 31, 46.87% of those that stayed listed have since closed, against 28.41% of those pulled. That is a comparison of two groups that chose differently, not proof that staying listed caused the sale.

A correction to the broadcast. On air, Brenden said about 28% of listings come off the market between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31. The 2025 figure is 15.20%: 2,207 of the 14,524 listings that were live and not under contract on Nov. 15. The 28.41% is the share of those pulled homes that later sold.

Brenden's point about the 60-day clock holds, and it matters for anyone planning a winter break. Under Stellar MLS Article 04.15, a home's cumulative days on market resets to zero only after 60 days off the market. Of last fall's relists, 41.44% came back within 60 days, so their full count came back with them. The median seller stayed off 71 days, just past the reset. A fresh count does not erase the record, though: as Brenden said on air, the earlier listing still shows in the history that buyers' agents pull.

The case for staying listed still holds. About one in seven competing sellers steps out, the buyers still shopping in December tend to be serious, and some want to close before Dec. 31 because Florida's homestead exemption is based on who owns and lives in the home on Jan. 1. The episode's illustration was a homeowner who books tree trimming in December, when crews have open days, and watched the last quote fall from $1,800 to $800. Off-season leverage works for sellers too, because there are fewer homes for those serious buyers to choose from.