Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve announced on Friday it has appointed Eric S. Belsky as director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, starting in August.

In its latest Beige Book, released Wednesday, the Federal Reserve noted economic activity has expanded in recent months, with the pace of growth "characterized as moderate in the Boston, New York, Richmond, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts, and modest in the remaining regions." Wednesday's summary reinforces comments offered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen recently.

While the sudden stop in economic growth in this year’s first quarter might have some market-watchers sending up red flags, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen isn’t especially concerned. One warning sign has caught her eye, however: housing. Faced with recent sales figures, the Fed chief admitted, “[T]he recent flattening out in housing activity could prove more protracted than currently expected rather than resuming its earlier pace of recovery.”

A newly released survey of senior loan officers around the country finds credit standards remained largely the same on basic prime mortgage products over the latest quarter, while demand came in weaker. On the topic of subprime loans: On net, the handful of banks offering such products reported tightening, though more than half still said standards changed little.

Federal Reserve leaders concluded their April meeting on Wednesday, revealing they have again voted to scale back the Fed's monthly asset purchases. Beginning in May, the committee will add only $20 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month rather than the previous pace of $25 billion. Additionally, longer-term Treasury securities will be scaled back to $25 billion per month rather than $30 billion.

Reports from the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts indicate economic activity has increased in most regions across the country since the end of February as the unusually harsh winter came to an end. According to the most recent update, eight districts—Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco—characterized their economic expansion from March to April as “modest or moderate.”

An audit of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) operational efficiency found the agency is lacking when it comes to the execution of its supervisory activities. In a report, the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve System says CFPB could improve in three areas: reporting timelines, standard compliance rating definitions, and examination reporting policies.

Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 4.32 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending March 20, down from last week, when it averaged 4.37 percent. A year ago, the 30-year FRM average was 3.54 percent. Since falling from 4.53 percent in 2014’s first weeks, the 30-year fixed average has seen limited movements since, staying in the 4.2-4.3 percent range.

Citing the “cumulative progress toward maximum employment and the improvement in the outlook for labor market conditions” since the start of the current stimulus program in 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee decided at its March meeting to reduce purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities to a pace of $25 billion per month and to dial back purchases of long-term Treasury securities to a pace of $30 billion each month, starting in April.

Despite warnings raised by some analysts in the wake of softening data releases, housing is still in the midst of “what appears to be a sustainable rebound,” say officials at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Included in that group is Richard Fisher, Dallas Fed president and CEO and one of the more hawkish Fed governors who will have a vote in monetary policy issues this year.