Interest rates

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Randal Quarles has made it clear that banks failing to make the transition away from the benchmark rate could face supervisory consequences.

The steady pace of refinance activity has also continued, as borrowers seek to take advantage of sub-3% rates.

More than two-thirds of the economists surveyed expect the Federal Open Market Committee will give an early-warning signal of tapering this year, with the largest number — 45% — looking for a nod during the July-September quarter.

“It’s time for us to stop treating the purchase mortgage as some kind of market impediment or red flag for our forecasts,” says Chairman of JJAM Financial and former Ginnie Mae President Joseph Murin

Federal Reserve officials left their benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero as they flagged a moderating U.S. recovery and reiterated a pledge to use all available tools to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

With an unusually high number of unknowns to factor in, mortgage industry leaders offer a peek at their playbooks for the next year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

The central bank said it would keep interest rates at current levels through at least to help the U.S. economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seeks to address challenged posed by the sunset of the London interbank offered rate at the end of 2021.

The head of the U.S. central bank said its emergency credit programs were not designed to prop businesses up over the long term.