Federal Reserve Worries Inflation Could Stay Elevated

This past Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released minutes from their January policy meeting. The message: Federal Reserve officials continue to worry that inflation could stay stubbornly high. This could keep interest rates, which are at a 23-year high, elevated for longer than expected. The Fed wants to see more data stretching over several months, so they plan to hold rates steady until it becomes more apparent what policymakers should do.

Investors Predict Rate Cuts

In December 2023, investors predicted as many as six rate cuts by the Fed in 2024. After the release of the January meeting minutes, that prediction has been lowered to three cuts in 2024. And they have changed their expectation for the first rate cut to occur in June or July rather than March.

All this to say, if you are waiting for interest rates to come down before entering the homebuying market, you may have to wait for quite a while

If you have any questions or are interested in discussing your mortgage needs, please contact us.