As mortgage rates hit a 22-year high and existing homeowners continue to stay in their homes, new single family home sales hit a 17-month high in July, according to HUD and U.S. Census Bureau data. Last month’s data recorded a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 714,000 new single-family home sales, up 4.4% from the revised … Read More
As anticipated, Chairman Powell maintained a rather hawkish tone Friday afternoon, citing unexpected economic strength in the third quarter as reason to stay vigilant on inflation. “We are attentive to signs that the economy may not be cooling as expected.” Powell said. The Fed, Powell said, is “prepared to raise rates further if appropriate and intend to hold policy … Read More
Eyes will be on inflation data coming out this week. The news on that front has been trending positive and suggests the Fed is nearing the end of the rate hiking cycle. As we’ve been discussing here, the second quarter was strong and the third quarter appears to be holding up on the consumer front as well, as the jobs market … Read More
As the market was expecting, the Fed raised interest rates another quarter point Wednesday afternoon, bringing the federal-funds rate to a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, a 22 year high. There will be eight weeks until the next Fed meeting. Chairman Jay Powell said there is “uncertainty in the next meeting let alone next year.” Powell also said he believed they “have a shot” at a soft … Read More
Amidst somewhat surprising signs of resilience this year in the U.S. economy, Fed watchers expect two more rate hikes this year to combat stubbornly high core inflation rates. Goldman Sachs Research’s chief U.S. economist believes a healthy labor market rebalancing that includes a large decline in job openings without an increase in unemployment is a positive sign for the potential for the U.S. to … Read More
Fed Chairman Jay Powell is on the Hill delivering the Fed’s semiannual report on monetary policy to the Senate and House. He told the House Committee the Fed is likely to raise interest rates in the coming months but at a slower pace than they have moved over the past year, weighing the risk that the combination of their 10 … Read More
Redfin reported more house hunters are returning to the market as mortgage rates and home prices continue to decline, but low inventory is hampering their searches. Banks continue to borrow from the new bank term funding program, up $10 billion last week to $64 billion while borrowing from the Fed discount window slowed to $88 billion, down $22 billion according to … Read More
