The monetary policy-making committee of the Federal Reserve Board has once again raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, noting that inflation concerns have persisted despite the gradually cooling housing market and other signs that economic growth is moderating."Ongoing productivity gains have held down the rise in unit labor costs, and inflation expectations remain contained," the Federal Open Market Committee said June 29. "However, the high levels of resource utilization and of the prices of energy and other commodities have the potential to sustain inflation pressures." Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital, said the Fed in its statement "is telling all the pundits who are squawking about overtightening that 'Yeah, we know that the economy may be slowing down, but it doesn't matter until we make sure that inflation is under control'." The Fed can be found on the Web at http://www.federalreserve.gov.
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The increasing frequency and severity of droughts was top of mind for panelists at AmeriCatalyst's "Going to Extremes" conference Thursday.
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In a Senate hearing, Director Sandra Thompson said a raise to the required income threshold provided to affordable housing was on the table, while housing regulators also faced questions related to property insurance hikes and title insurance waivers.
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The nonpayment rate for non-qualified mortgages is up 21 basis points from February and 134 basis points from March 2023, Morningstar DBRS said.
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The government mortgage-bond guarantor will require additional information on foreclosure prevention actions, and retire some forbearance reporting.
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But views are split, at least in the near-term on whether rising mortgage rates are holding back the Spring home purchase season.
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The top five producers had an average dollar volume of FHA loans of more than $50 million in 2023.
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