Eye On Housing
Information provided by the Federal Reserve Board in its January 2018 release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) indicates that lending standards on commercial and industrial (C&I) loans to large and medium-sized firms continue to ease on net. The continued easing in standards on C&I loans increase the stock of loans, which in turns fuels job creation. However,… Read More ›
According to the Mortgage Interest Rate Survey produced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, contract rates on 30-Year fixed rate mortgages ticked up one basis point in December 2017 to 4.01 percent. Information provided by Freddie Mac, a more commonly used series, showed a similar trend over the month of December with its contract rate on the 30-Year fixed rate… Read More ›
In Janet Yellen’s final meeting as Chair, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC or Committee) voted unanimously to maintain the federal funds rate, its short-term policy rate, at a range of 1.25 percent and 1.50 percent, a level it deems “accommodative”. According to estimates of financial markets expectations, this decision was widely expected. Calculations of the appropriate level for the… Read More ›
According to a release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the nation’s real gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. Despite the slowdown, GDP growth over all of 2017 accelerated to 2.3 percent, faster than the 1.5 percent rate of growth in 2016. The annual increase in… Read More ›
Information provided by the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) indicates that mortgage rates on purchases of newly built homes rose 7 basis points in November to 4.00 percent. At this level, rates remain below the 4.18 cycle peak level recorded in February. Meanwhile, a more commonly used rate reported by Freddie Mac indicates that mortgage rates rose by 2 basis… Read More ›
Consumer prices, measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Consumer Price Index – Urban Consumer (CPI), rose by 2.1 percent on an unadjusted basis over the 12 months of 2017, and has broadly accelerated from the 1.63 percent reading in June 2017. Energy prices contributed to the increase in the headline measure of consumer inflation, climbing 6.9 percent over… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the economy, as measured by growth in real gross domestic product (GDP), rose by 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2017. The third estimate of third quarter 2017 GDP growth is slightly less than the 3.3 percent growth rate recorded in the second estimate, but faster than the “advance”, or initial,… Read More ›
The Consumer Price Index – Urban Consumers (CPI) rose by 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis over the month of November and 2.2 percent over the past 12 months on a not seasonally adjusted basis. According to the release, energy prices accounted for three-fourths of the increase in the monthly change in headline inflation. Core CPI, which excludes more… Read More ›
In its statement following its December 12-13, 2017 meeting, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to a range of 1.25 to 1.5 percent, a decision that was widely expected. Despite the increase, the FOMC believes that the “stance of monetary policy remains accommodative”. As illustrated by the Federal Reserve… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that economy, as measured by growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.3 percent in the third quarter of 2017. The second estimate of Q3 GDP growth is moderately higher than the initial, or “advance”, estimate. With this reading, GDP growth has accelerated for two consecutive quarters after decelerating over the… Read More ›