The Fed's Decision and what it means

I watched the Federal Reserve’s decision and speech today and wanted to give you a brief summary.  Keep in mind that the Fed’s decision does not directly affect mortgage rates. As a matter of fact, the last few times that the Fed lowered rates, mortgage rates went up the next day. The two mortgage rate charts show what has happened over the past 3 months and over the past year. The good news is that mortgage rates are down .75-1 point over the past year.

The Fed did decide to lower the Federal Fund rate by 1/4 point today. That's .75 points since September and 1.5 points since the end of 2024

The Fed does not intend to lower rates further unless future data shows the need.
New jobs and unemployment reports come out next week.

He still thinks inflation is too high but also sees unemployment rising, thus the reason for the cut today.

Now they take a wait and see approach.

The Fed was asked about the challenges of the housing market and he said that it will likely take some time (years potentially) for that to be healed. A 1/4 point cut will not move the needle much at all for mortgage rates and it will take some time as wages and income needs to increase at a faster pace than housing prices. 

*Mortgage rates fluctuate daily and can vary widely depending on many factors of your personal financial picture. Please contact a licensed mortgage expert for an estimate of what a rate might be for you. Or contact us at Angell Solutions for a referral.