Eye On Housing
Builders and developers continue to report easing credit standards for acquisition, development, and construction (AD&C) loans. However, the pace of easing has slowed somewhat from previous periods. According to NAHB’s Survey on Acquisition, Development & Construction Financing, 27.7% of survey respondents on net indicated that overall lending standards on AD&C loan availability had eased in the fourth quarter of 2015…. Read More ›
The minutes from the January meeting of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting committee, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a more detailed account than the statement released immediately following the meeting, and traditionally released three weeks after the meeting, indicate an increase in the uncertainty surrounding current economic conditions and their implications for economic growth, labor market improvements and… Read More ›
Aggregate household debt outstanding totaled $12.116 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2015, 2.4%, $289 billion, greater than its level of one year ago. According to the report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, housing-related debt, mortgages and home equity lines of credit rose by a combined amount of 0.6%, $56 billion. The increase in housing-related debt outstanding reflected… Read More ›
Consumer credit outstanding grew on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.2% over the month of December and by 5.8% over the fourth quarter of 2015. Over the year of 2015, consumer credit outstanding expanded by 6.9%. There is now $3.55 trillion in outstanding consumer credit. Growth in the outstanding amount of consumer credit over the year partly reflected an… Read More ›
Credit standards on loan applications for construction and land development loans or credit lines tightened, on net, over the fourth quarter of 2015. According to the most recent iteration of the Federal Reserve Board’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, a net share of 12.7% said that lending standards at their respective commercial bank tightened. The net share represents the difference between… Read More ›
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting committee, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), concluded its January meeting and released the standard post-meeting statement announcing the widely expected result of no change in the target for the benchmark short-term interest federal funds rate leaving it at 25-50 basis points. The committee recognized continuing progress in the labor market despite slower economic… Read More ›
Just as few were surprised when the Federal Reserve announced the first increase in the target range for the federal funds rate in the statement following the December meeting, there were few surprises in the more detailed minutes of the meeting, released three weeks later. The minutes reiterated the basic themes that have guided deliberations in recent months: accumulated improvements… Read More ›
But, as we’ve been told repeatedly, the path of subsequent increases is more important, is expected to be gradual, and will be dependent on the progress of economic conditions, namely, continuing strength in output growth, improvements in the labor market and progress toward 2 percent inflation. The statement and press conference following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting committee, the… Read More ›
Consumer credit outstanding grew by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5%, $191.8 billion, in the month of October 2015, 4.4 percentage point slower than the 9.9% rate of growth recorded in September 2015. Consumer credit outstanding now totals $3.512 trillion. The increase in total consumer credit outstanding largely reflected an expansion in the outstanding amount of non-revolving consumer credit. Non-revolving consumer… Read More ›
The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting committee, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), October meeting reveal both confidence and caution on the part of policy makers. Meeting participants expressed a range of views regarding confidence in the accumulated progress in economic activity, labor market improvements, and the transitory nature of downward pressure on inflation from declining energy… Read More ›