Federal Reserve
The economy is still growing, but the margin for error is shrinking fast. That’s according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, who said his latest modeling puts the chance of a recession over the next year at about 40%, well above the typical baseline. “I expect in the most likely baseline scenario going forward…
A lot of hopes have been pinned on mortgage rates going down this year, but it seems this new war with Iran is poised to be a check on additional benchmark interest rate cuts and an overall drag on housing market activity. “Economic uncertainty is not a position from which many people are interested in…
By Jonathan MillerSpecial Contributor Understanding Housing Market Trends ASAP Admittedly, going into the Beige Book and anecdotal is a little wonky, but I promise it is worth it. Here it goes… Everyone who interacts with the housing market has all heard this debate between pending and closed sales: Early on, brokerage firms that tried to…
It has been a whirlwind of news on the mortgage rates front over the last few days as the 30-year note crossed a critical threshold. Meanwhile, the independence of Federal Reserve policy appears more under threat than ever amid a criminal investigation into the central bank’s chair. First, Mortgage Rates Last Thursday, President Donald Trump…
By Jonathan MillerSpecial Contributor The Fed Cuts And The Search For A Heart Of Gold Neil Young’s 1980 political album Hawks & Doves was disappointing to his fans after the barn-burner Rust Never Sleeps and the classics After the Gold Rush and Harvest set the standard. For me, the Hawks & Doves album symbolized the beginning of a weaker era of his albums and perhaps,…