Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

U.S. banks' can expect their long-term business strategies to continue to be affected by the "lower-for-longer" interest rate environment that Fed officials have placed the industry in.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that he believes the U.S. government should have sought the prosecution of individuals for their roles in precipitating the 2008 financial crisis rather than companies.

Mortgage rates lowered to 3.86 percent for the week ending September 24, 2015 after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates near zero last week.

Buyers are still motivated to purchase homes, even if the Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates in one of their last two meetings of the year.

The Federal Reserve decided on Thursday to keep the federal funds target rate at zero to 1/4 percent, where it has been for nine years, at the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

"In determining how long to maintain this target range, the Committee will assess progress—both realized and expected—toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation," the Fed said in a statement.

As the Federal Reserve prepares to convene for their September 17th meeting, many wonder how a possible rate increase will affect the housing market.

Job gains fell below expectations for the month of August, totaling less than 200,000, but wage growth finally began to show some upward pressure. However, analysts are still divided on whether it will be enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in their September meeting.

The Federal Reserve reported in its August 2015 Beige Book released Wednesday that economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors, while the majority of reports on residential real estate markets across the 12 Fed districts were positive.

International officials and bankers have voiced that they are tired of the hesitancy seen within the Federal Reserve when discussing interest rate increases.