Fannie Mae’s August mortgage origination forecast predicts lower volume in 2025 and 2026 compared with July as the government-sponsored enterprise moved its rate expectations higher. It now expects total home sales to decline year-over-year. Fannie Mae is still looking for existing home sales to rise, but not by as much previously expected. The drop off […]
Fannie Mae cuts outlook for 2025–26 home sales Read More »
Mortgage rates this week fell to their lowest level since October, supported by one better than expected inflation report as well as ongoing concerns regarding employment data. But an unexpected finding in the Bureau of Labor Statistics July Producer Price Index report could put a hold on a potential September Federal Open Market Committee short-term
Mortgage rates move lower on inflation, employment news Read More »
While more economists surveyed in August by Wolters Kluwer expect the Federal Open Market Committee to cut short-term rates at its September meeting than the previous month, a significant share still thinks action won’t come until December or later. The percentage of the participants in the Blue Chip Economic Indicators panel believing the next Fed
Economists now leaning towards September Fed cut Read More »
The impact of Trump-era tariffs on goods and services is starting to trickle through the economy, but for now, the effect on inflation appears minimal, raising expectations for a potential interest rate cut in the near term. The July Consumer Price Index, released Tuesday, showed headline price growth of 2.7% over the previous year, the
Fed faces key choice on rates after latest inflation report Read More »
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a recent vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board.Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will nominate Stephen Miran, currently the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, to the Federal Reserve
Trump says he will nominate Stephen Miran to Fed Read More »
Bloomberg News A new round of tariffs imposed Thursday has raised alarm among economists, lawmakers and financial analysts not just for their impact on trade flows and prices, but for the ripple effects on the financial sector. Broad tariffs on more than 90 countries went into effect Thursday, following the president’s previously announced deadline for
As tariffs take hold, banks still grappling with uncertainty Read More »
Some loosening in mortgage underwriting contributed to the 8-basis-point quarter-to-quarter increase in the Milliman Mortgage Default Index. This measurement is an estimate of the lifetime serious delinquency rate, which Milliman defines as loans for which the borrower is 180 or more days late on their payments. It looks at loans acquired by the government-sponsored enterprises
Looser underwriting boosts serious default risk in 1Q25 Read More »
Bloomberg News By firing one of the country’s top economic research officials, President Donald Trump might have instilled less confidence in the legitimacy of government-produced data rather than more. On Friday, Trump terminated Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming that she “rigged” the data in last week’s employment situation report to hurt the
Trump’s BLS firing impacts perceptions more than numbers Read More »
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday imposing new tariff rates on trading partners that take effect Friday, the White House said. The signing will take place “at some point this afternoon or later this evening,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a news briefing, adding that “Aug. 1,
Trump to set new tariffs before midnight, White House says Read More »
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome PowellBloomberg News WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is still trying to get a handle on how higher tariffs will impact the economy. Powell said it was always going to take time for higher import levies to translate into higher prices for consumers, but the administration’s
Powell: ‘Many, many uncertainties’ remain for tariff impacts Read More »