Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

The ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules that went into effect earlier this year are not having a significant impact on approvals of prime conforming residential mortgage loans, but they are impacting the jumbo and nontraditional loan markets, according to the July 2014 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices conducted by the Federal Reserve.

U.S. payrolls grew less than expected in July, a potential sign that the labor market recovery might be cooling following an early summer hiring spike.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a reform bill this week to require the Federal Reserve to adopt a "more predictable rules-based" monetary policy. The Fed has already warned of serious trouble if the nation's central bank were held to formal policy regarding its ability to set interest rates.

Leaders at the Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to move forward with the central bank's plans to gradually cut monthly bond purchases, a sign of growing confidence that the economy is trending in a more favorable direction. In a statement released following its July meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee announced it has voted to bring its purchases of agency MBS and longer-term Treasury securities to a pace of $25 billion per month.

The Federal Reserve reported continued growth in economic activity through the United States over the past month, reinforcing recent reports that the economy is moving in a more positive direction after a dismal first quarter. Reports on real estate activity were mixed across the country, though low inventory and rising home prices were common themes in most districts.

In a testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made the case that while the economy has seen improvement, the economic recovery is still too fragile to deviate from the present course of Fed policy. Notably, Yellen noted the recent cooling in housing as a sign.

On Wednesday, four federal financial regulatory agencies and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) issued risk management guidelines for financial institutions that need to be aware of the challenges borrowers may face in paying off their home equity lines of credit after coming out of a recession.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI), which tracks signs of future developments, rose 0.5 percent in May to 101.7, building on gains of 0.3 percent in April and 1.0 percent in March. "Housing permits held the index back slightly but the LEI still points to an expanding economy and its pace may even pick up in the second half of the year," said Conference Board economist Ataman Ozyildirim.

A year ago, interest rates were on their way up on speculation that the Fed may soon start tapering its bond stimulus. Now that the central bank is on track to potentially end its stimulus purchases by the end of the year, rates have actually shown little movement, defying expectations. While the first quarter's economic contraction is partly responsible for rates staying put, analysts at Bankrate.com say developments overseas are also having an effect.

The FOMC concluded its June meeting with the announcement that members have once again voted to bring down the Federal Reserve's stimulative monthly asset purchases. Taking a cue from improvements in labor market indicators, household spending, and general economic activity, the committee members voted to reduce the Fed's monthly purchase of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to a combined $35 billion per month.