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Some economists — and homebuyers — expect the upward trend to continue, given that Federal Reserve policymakers are poised to aggressively raise interest rates in the coming months in a bid to rein in the highest consumer price inflation in four decades.
“Rising rates have certainly added to an already challenging market in terms of affordability, but our forecast is still for a pretty healthy purchase market in 2022,” Kan said.
“The general view of the housing market is that it’s still positive — we have an economy that’s still extremely strong,” he said.
As for the trajectory of mortgage rates going forward, Kan expects them to be volatile.
A conversation with Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, who made some time to chat with Kate this week in between district meetings in Durham, N.C.
“It feels to me like if something is going to be a recession predictor, there shouldn’t be an unlimited time frame behind it,” he said.
But he is worried about supply chains — As a regional Fed president, Barkin spends a lot of time talking to business contacts in his district, which spans Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North and South Carolina, and West Virginia.
SCHUMER MOVES BRAINARD, COOK CLOSER TO CONFIRMATION — Our Victoria Guida: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday moved to set up a vote on Federal Reserve nominees Lael Brainard and Lisa Cook when lawmakers return from recess in late April.
U.S.
While Yellen acknowledged the importance — and need — for innovation around payment systems and financial markets, her speech was emblematic of the skepticism that’s likely to imbue some of the reports and recommendations called for by President Joe Biden’s executive order on crypto policy.
‘As a result of the dynamic nature of crypto-related activities, it is difficult for institutions, as well as the FDIC, to adequately assess the safety and soundness, financial stability, and consumer protection implications without considering each crypto-related activity on an individual basis,’ the FDIC said in a letter to financial institutions.
The SEC gave its blessing to the Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund application in a late Wednesday filing.
THREE-QUARTERS OF AMERICANS SAY ECONOMY IS ON THE ‘WRONG TRACK’ — Bloomberg’s Alexandre Tanzi: “Almost three-quarters of consumers in Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment survey said the economy is on the ‘wrong track,’ the highest level in 11 years.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 166,000 during the week that ended on April 2, compared with a revised 171,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The discussion draft of the bipartisan bill aims to deny companies credits for taxes paid to the two countries.
Troise and Alex Veiga: “Stocks recovered from an early slide and closed higher on Wall Street Thursday as investors weigh the latest update from the Federal Reserve amid concerns about rising inflation.
It all comes from an outdated, complex verification system where a massive number of computers suck up enormous amounts of energy from coal, fracked gas and other polluting sources.
We need to persuade the few dozen decision makers running and backing Bitcoin’s polluting operations to move Bitcoin to a new software code.