Weighing the Effects of the Fed's and Treasury's Latest Announcements

During its Jan. 31 meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve confirmed it's holding interest rates steady, according to real estate services site Redfin. Although some investors anticipated a rate cut as soon as March, Fed chairman Jerome Powell indicated that's unlikely because the Fed lacks sufficient confidence in the economy's strength to cut rates that soon. That means we'll probably see a rate cut in May, at the earliest, and mortgage rates will remain elevated in the meantime. But in other news ...

... the January 31 announcement from the U.S. Treasury that they’re not expecting to increase the supply of treasuries was welcome news for the housing market. Less supply of treasuries means high prices and therefore lower interest rates. On balance, this means mortgage rates may hold steady as these two economic events work in opposite directions.

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