Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

While a few foreign central banks have already implemented negative policy rates due to economic turmoil, many in the housing industry are wondering if the U.S. is next.

In the spirit of slow growth—as predicted by economists—there are several industry reports coming this week to see if they were indeed spot-on with their expectations for 2016. So will the slow growth housing market continue?

As Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen wrapped up her semiannual monetary policy report testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday morning, Congress questioned her about possibly implementing a ...

Although lenders are being selective in who they lend to in terms of credit score, overall, mortgage lending standards have eased every quarter over the last two years. Could this be the beginning of yet another financial crisis?

In her testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday when discussing monetary policy, Yellen pointed out factors that have weighed on aggregate demand, such as limited access to credit for some borrowers, weak growth abroad, and the dollar’s significant appreciation.

Given some of the recent major economic news concerning the Fed, it is probably not hard to guess at least some of what Yellen will be talking about this week.

Credit standards among mortgage lenders tend to change with overall economic conditions. A survey from the Federal Reserve shows that credit standards may be easing among lenders, but will this change be in the best interest of the housing market?

Federal Reserve officials' stance on monetary policy is mostly affected by the direction of the economy. Although they raised the federal funds rate in December, current economic conditions may not warrant another increase for awhile.

Given the rough start to 2016, some in the industry are beginning to question if the Fed will dial back on its December decision or ease up on the four "gradual increases" projected for this year.

In December, during their final meeting of the year, the Federal Open Market Committee decided to raise the federal funds rate. Since then, the mortgage industry has been anticipating the effect this will have on the housing market, but so far, that effect has been little to none.