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REAL ESTATE
What Should Homebuyers Do In advance of the Looming Fed Cut?
Answer? Not much!
As the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 18 rate announcement draws nearer, the expectations grow increasingly breathless. The Fed has signaled that it will cut rates for the first time since 2020, so there’s not much drama on that front. But there’s plenty of other grist for the mill. Will the central bank’s cut be a quarter-point or a half? And what does it mean for the housing market?
If you’re in the process of buying a home, the soundest advice is to tune out the constant chatter and proceed with your plans. After all, the Fed directly controls neither home prices nor mortgage rates — and rates on home loans already have come down in anticipation of a Fed rate cut. What’s more, any move at the September meeting is likely to be modest, a contrast to the Fed’s push to slash rates in 2020 and then to quickly raise them in 2022 and 2023.
Why is everyone so focused on the Fed meeting?
The Fed’s next move will probably be incremental, and therefore is likely to move the housing market only marginally. But market experts are hyper-focused on the Fed meeting regardless because, in the past few years, the central bank’s seismic shifts in policy have created shock waves for…
