Tag Archives: Rate Hike

Continuing our coverage on the Fed’s announcement of a 25-basis point rate hike at the end of their two-day July meeting, more commentary has come through focusing specifically on the real estate market, including sales, defaults, and home prices.

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2% over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.00% to 5.25%,” the Fed said in a prepared statement.

This latest action by the Federal Reserve to raise rates is intended to remove money from the economy, reduce demand, and drive prices lower as inflation nears a 40-year high.

The newest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics weave a familiar tale. Industry experts cut through the numbers to reflect on the effect of the current jobs market on the housing industry.

Mortgage rates are expected to rise in the coming months as the FOMC discusses a rate hike. See how the hike and interest rates will impact homebuying power and affordability.

The U.S. labor market added 200,000 jobs and unemployment remained flat at 4.1 percent in January 2018 according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on ...

Though the Federal Reserve has indicated a third 2017 rate hike in their latest projections, recent happenings could delay the increase until the end of 2018.

The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its April meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and if industry experts are on track, they could point to another rate hike on the horizon. Regional Federal Reserve Presidents Neel Kashkari, Robert Kaplan and James Bullard have all weighed in on the issue. The Fed previously raised rates from 0.75 points to 1 in March.

Despite sluggish economic growth in Q1 and the widely held assumption that the Fed would raise rates at least two more times this year, the Federal Open Market Committee opted to keep the federal funds rate as is at its May meeting. Raised in March, the rate currently sits at 1 percent. The Committee cited job gains and lower unemployment as factors in its decision.

The already low prospect of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve later this month just became even lower following a speech this week by Fed Governor Lael Brainard.