Interest rates

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.

A negative Federal Reserve policy rate is still improbable, but if it were to happen it could be a net benefit, according to a note from JPMorgan Chase.

Bankers say they understand the need for an extraordinary government response to the coronavirus outbreak, but worry that even slashing interest rates won’t stimulate demand.

The Federal Reserve has voted unanimously to cut the interest rate 50 basis points to 1.10% effective March 4, in the first emergency rate cut since 2008.

Canadian real estate is increasingly becoming a seller's market as supply shrinks to decade lows, raising the prospect of rising prices and the re-emergence of froth in some major cities.