Federal Reserve

Residential Building Permits Fall as Recession Risk Climbs to 40%, Economist Says

By Charles Grand / April 16, 2026 /

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…

Mortgage Rates Tick Back Up as Iran War Stokes Inflation Fears

By Charles Grand / March 9, 2026 /

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…

The Plural of Housing Anecdotal Is Not Data, But It Can Be a Leading Indicator

By Charles Grand / February 22, 2026 /

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…

Lower Mortgage Rates, Higher Stakes for the Federal Reserve

By Charles Grand / January 13, 2026 /

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…

Hawks and Doves: A Lot More Rate Cuts Will Probably Hurt Housing

By CandysDirt / December 15, 2025 /

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,…