March 19, 2019
A bit over one week after the February jobs report, the Federal Reserve Board convenes today to determine the present and future of monetary policy. As far as the analysts are concerned, there is not much concern about the present. There is no action expected to be announced with regard to the movement of interest rates — up or down. The future is another story.
For the past few years there has been little debate about the direction of the Fed. Rates were at historic lows and they had nowhere to go but up. While the Fed continues to wind down some of their stimulus activity, such as the paring down of their holdings, some analysts are predicting no more rate increases for this year and beyond. Others are predicting at least one increase and still others are looking for rates to drop next year.
Who is right? Expect some clues in the Fed’s announcement tomorrow, but the debate will rage on. Meanwhile, regardless of the cold weather we have had recently, Spring is officially here this week. This means that the real estate season is going to be in full swing and for now, we have lower interest rates to spur potential homeowners on. The stock market has been strong this year and economic growth was higher than expectations in the fourth quarter. We very well might have a strong season.
Source: Origination Pro