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House Hunting in a Period of Social Distancing
Lower housing demand due to quarantine orders, slowing price growth and mortgage originations, and a historically high housing supply are all hitting the economy at the same time.
Newsletter
Why Housing Has Been So Strong, but Might Not Be for Long
The current monetary policy tightening cycle has seen the fastest increases in the fed funds rate in more than 40 years. While not all tightening cycles have led to significant increases in mortgage rates (e.g., the 1988, 2016, and 2004 cycles), this time around mortgage rates have increased by close to 400 basis points (bps) in the first seven months since lift off (see figure A1 in the appendix). In this Chicago Fed Letter, we describe how this increase has shaped (and is still shaping) the dynamics of the housing sector.