Tag Archives: Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)

Before their spring meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee moved to hold interest rates steady. Click through for commentary on the news.

Since mortgage rates hit nearly 8% last October, Redfin has found that homebuyers on a $3,000 monthly budget have gained significant purchase power since that time.

As widely expected by many, the Federal Open Market Committee chose to leave the nominal interest rate alone moving into next year, based on a litany of data.

Driven by increased activity in the jumbo mortgage market, the MBA reported mortgage credit availability on the rise to begin Q4, as lenders have begun to offer more ARM products to offset mortgage rates that reached nearly 8% in the second half of October.

A drop of just three basis points in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage provided little relief to prospective buyers, as ambiguity around monetary policy will likely continue to stall improvements in the housing market through the end of the year.

The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee chose to forgo the opportunity to raise the central bank’s nominal interest rate at the conclusion of their October/November meeting, a repeat of the action the committee last took in September.

With mortgage rates averaging 40 basis points higher than one month ago, overall mortgage application volume deviated from the norm and rose slightly week-over-week, led by an increase in ARM volume.

The Committee will continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy at future meetings with an inflationary goal of 2%.

In a new blog post, First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming explains that " “mortgage rate stability, even if the stabilization occurs at a higher level, is the key to a housing recovery.”

Not since spring of 2002 have fixed-rate mortgages been as high as they were reported this week, and when combined with mortgage app volume sliding for the fourth straight week, affordability headwinds continue to impact housing demand.