FOMC

Mortgage rates posted a slight increase this week following the Federal Open Markets Committee's decision to boost short-term rates by 25 basis points, according to Freddie Mac.

While regulatory relief legislation would raise the asset threshold for “systemically important” banks, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank could still apply prudential scrutiny to banks below that new cutoff.

There's too much momentum and too little debt for rising interest rates to derail the U.S. economic expansion or drive up the cost of home ownership.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate moved up for the seventh consecutive week with further increases possible as bond yields rise over concerns about higher inflation.

Powell, a former investment banker who has served as a Fed governor, was confirmed by the Senate last month to a four-year term as chair of the central bank.

Senators overwhelmingly approved Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve Board despite vocal opposition from some Democrats.

The mortgage market had already priced the Federal Open Market Committee's 25-basis-point hike into its rates so there was little change, according to Freddie Mac.

Private mortgage insurers are better positioned to weather a flatter or even inverted yield curve than other financials from an investment perspective, a report from FBR Capital Markets said.

Consumer house-buying power, measuring how much one can purchase based on changes in income and interest rates, fell 2.1% year-over-year, but increased by 1.3% from the month prior, according to First American Financial Corp.

Federal Reserve officials meeting earlier this month saw an interest-rate increase in the near term even as divisions persisted over the policy path forward amid tepid inflation.