Lates News

After the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, mortgage rates quietly rose - a phenomenon that, while counterintuitive, is quite common. Data from Fannie Mae shows that as of Wednesday, mortgage rates remained steady at 6.26%, the lowest level since early October 2024. However, most of Fannie Mae's data was collected before the Fed's rate cut. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, "We don't set mortgage rates, but our policy rate changes often have an impact on them. This impact has already been seen, and it will boost (housing) demand." The next direction of mortgage rates is still uncertain. From September to December last year, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times, but mortgage rates continued to rise during the same period. Data released on Wednesday showed that Federal Reserve officials expect to cut rates twice more this year, but they still have disagreements about the short-term economic outlook. Zillow's senior economist Orphe Divounguy said in a statement, "Due to the financial markets' anticipation of a quicker pace of monetary policy easing than the actual steps the Federal Reserve is likely to take, mortgage rates are unlikely to further significantly decrease."