Jerome Powell is set to step down this week after a particularly eventful tenure
Monthly purchases of $13B in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities may be taking pressure off mortgage rates — and setting the stage for a more attractive public offering
After the Federal Reserve approved the second rate cut of the year, mortgage rates moved in the opposite direction as investors who fund most home loans worry about inflation
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit another 2025 low on Tuesday, dropping to 6.12%, nearly a full percentage point lower than January. Rates now have less room to come down
Fed chair dismisses suggestion that central bank could resume its purchases of mortgage-backed securities to bring down mortgage rates and improve housing affordability
Improve your understanding of how broad economic factors impact the housing market
Recent Trump appointee Stephen Miran was the lone dissenter in Wednesday's 11-1 vote, holding out for a bigger, 1/2 percentage point rate cut advocated by the president
Job market is 'solid,' and central bank policymakers need time to assess Trump administration's 'substantial policy changes' in areas including tariffs, immigration, taxation and regulations
Central bank dials back Treasury rolloffs but is not ready to cut short-term interest rates, as Fed policymakers indicate they're more worried about inflation than they were in December
Requests to refinance were up 12% week over week and 17% from a year ago last week after rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans pulled back to the lowest level in 6 weeks
Trump wants the central bank to lower rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he's not spoken to the President, and that 'we don't need to be in a hurry to adjust the policy stance'
Bond market investors who fund most mortgages focus on the latest dot plot, which shows Fed policymakers only expect to bring short-term rates down by half a percentage point in 2025
Move was anticipated by investors that fund most home loans, who have been driving up mortgage rates over concerns about inflation and pace of future Fed rate cuts
Another worry for bond market investors is quantitative tightening, the Fed's program to trim its massive holdings of government debt and mortgage-backed securities
Fed easing was already priced into mortgage rates, but there's room for more relief if investors who fund most home loans get less skittish about prepayment risk and quantitative tightening