MBA Chart of the Week: Target Fed Funds Rate

The FOMC lowered the target Fed Funds rate by 50 basis points at its September meeting and signaled that this is the first cut in a series that is expected to bring the Fed Funds rate down by about 2 percentage points by the end of 2025.

Fed Holds Rates Steady Again

The Federal Reserve again held rates steady July 31, noting that there has been “some further progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective” over the past few months.

MBA Chart of the Week: Job Openings for Selected Industries

Last week Fed Chair Jay Powell testified to Congress that as “labor market tightness has eased and progress on inflation has continued, the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals have been moving into better balance.”

MBA, Housing Trades Call on Fed to End Rate Hikes, Pledge Not to Sell MBS Book 

Yesterday, the Mortgage Bankers Association led a coalition letter sent to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve that conveyed the housing industry’s serious concerns about the negative market impacts the Fed’s monetary policy actions (e.g., rate hikes and quantitative tightening) are having on the market.

Fed Keeps Rates Steady But Options Open

The Federal Open Market Committee held rates steady at its June meeting but kept its options open for July and later this year.

DBRS Morningstar: Federal Reserve Finds CRE Risk

The good news: all 34 banks the Federal Reserve’s recent stress tests examined passed. The not-so-good news: the tests found potential risks in certain loan portfolios including commercial real estate, said DBRS Morningstar, New York.