President Trump has started Operation Shadow Fed President, with news breaking Wednesday night that he has identified several candidates for the next Federal Reserve chairman. Under this strategy, the president selects a new Federal Reserve chair well before they can officially assume the role and they communicate new Fed policy to the markets, which undermines […]
Trump initiates plan to install a shadow Fed president Read More »
New home sales missed sales estimates significantly in Wednesday’s report and we have negative revisions to the previous months. The builders’ profit margins are dwindling, which means housing construction, which has been at early COVID-19 recession levels for some time, could worsen if mortgage rates stay elevated or head even higher. So, instead of focusing
US housing construction is dead with current mortgage rates Read More »
The Federal Reserve has come under renewed fire from the Trump administration in recent weeks as the president and key housing officials battle with Chair Jerome Powell over the direction of interest rates. On Tuesday, while speaking to members of the House Financial Services Committee, Powell was resolute that the central bank will continue its
Jerome Powell says the Fed isn’t budging on interest rates Read More »
Global tensions between the United States and Iran have led many in the mortgage industry to wonder whether the bombing of Iran nuclear sites would move bond yields and lead to a drop in mortgage rates. On Monday, just as economists were factoring in the possibility of war with Iran, at least one member of
The mortgage market hopes for rate cuts amid war moves Read More »
After the weekend’s global events, many expected that the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities would influence bond yields, either up or down, today. However, the real surprise came from Michelle Bowman, Federal Reserve Vice Chair of Supervision, who talked about a potential rate cut in July. In a speech she gave at a research conference
Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman supports July interest rate cut Read More »
Short-term market swings are nothing new but the kind of volatility mortgage lenders are dealing with today is driven less by predictable economic indicators and more by geopolitical tensions, trade policy shifts, and global headlines. While volatility has ticked up, it’s not at historic extremes. The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures stress in financial markets,
Mortgage pros share tips for riding out volatility Read More »
On Saturday night, the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites, sending shockwaves around the world and leading people to ask me what this means for mortgage rates. This type of global event can lead to significant market movements in oil prices, the U.S. dollar and the 10-year yield in the short term. However, this year, we’ve
How will mortgage rates react to US bombing of Iran? Read More »
The most notable housing trend for me in 2024 and 2025 has been inventory growth, particularly the increase in new listings during this time. I had set a minimal target of 80,000 new listings per week for 2025 and we’ve met that goal two times this year. However, the data for new listings is losing
New listings slowdown shows lack of home seller stress in 2025 Read More »
In the aftermath of the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting, certain interest rate spreads should narrow, but the overall impact for mortgages is mixed, a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods report said. Part of that depends on which segment of the industry the company operates in. Mortgage rates remaining elevated, with the 30-year fixed only
Mortgage servicers benefit most from Fed’s inaction: KBW Read More »
Today, President Trump called Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “Too Late” in a social post and said that he can save the country billions of dollars by shaving 2.5% off the Fed Funds rate. This is part of an ongoing Trump attack on the Fed Chair to cut rates, but is this strategy the best way
Trump wants Powell to lower rates. Here’s how to do that Read More »