Yesterday at 5 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark Funds Rate to a range of 0%-0.25%, and pledged to buy $700 billion in Treasuries and mortgage bonds, to bolster the economy against a coronavirus slowdown.
This does not immediately cut fixed-rate mortgage rates, as they’re keyed to bond prices. But the Fed’s bond buying program may increase those prices, which would eventually lower mortgage rates. We’ll see.
In last week’s National Association of Realtors survey, 87% of respondents saw no change in the number of homes on the market, and 37% felt low mortgage rates excited buyers more than the stock market correction.
