The Fed says….Mortgage Rates to Remain Low

This morning FOMC announced no changes to the current Fed Funds rate (this is no surprise). The Fed has decided to keep the Fed Funds rate at 0 – 0.25% until the unemployment rate is under 6.5%.  This may be some good news to home owners who have HELOCs as many of them have rates tied to the prime rate, which is based on the Fed Funds rate.

Regarding the Fed’s continued efforts to keep mortgage rates low:

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee will continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. The Committee also will purchase longer-term Treasury securities after its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of Treasury securities is completed at the end of the year, initially at a pace of $45 billion per month. The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and, in January, will resume rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. Taken together, these actions should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative.

Mortgage rates should remain very low due to the Fed’s continued purchase of mortgage backed securities of $85 billion per month!

Now if we could only get Congress to pass HARP 3.0 #MyRefi and have them stop trying to pad the low mortgage rates with g-fees that have nothing to do with the housing recovery.

If I can provide you with a mortgage rate quote for your Washington home, please click here.