Fed Announces Rate Hike

Mar 21, 2018

The first meeting of the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee under the chairmanship of Jerome Powell has resulted in a new rate hike.

In a statement issued by the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, the unanimous decision was reached to “raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 percent.” In making this announcement, the Fed stated that the “economic outlook has strengthened in recent months,” adding that “with further gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace in the medium term and labor market conditions will remain strong.”

The Fed made no mention of housing in its announcement, nor did it address the controversy over the Trump Administration’s tariff policy. Instead, the committee said it “expects that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant further gradual increases in the federal funds rate; the federal funds rate is likely to remain, for some time, below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run. However, the actual path of the federal funds rate will depend on the economic outlook as informed by incoming data.”

"The tight labor market will hurry-along the Fed to raise rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Housing costs are also rising solidly and contributing to faster inflation. The one thing that could slow the pace of rate increases would be to tame housing costs through an increased supply of new homes. Not only will more home construction lead to a slower pace of rate hikes, it will also lead to faster economic growth. Let’s put greater focus on boosting home construction.”

About the author

Phil Hall

Link copied

Published

Mar 21, 2018

Home Equity

Achieve Closes $261.5M HELOC Securitization Ahead Of Planned TPO Launch

The company expects to begin purchasing fixed-rate HELOCs from correspondent lenders during the third quarter

Achieve has completed a $261.5 million securitization backed by 3,129 fixed-rate home equity lines of credit as it prepares to begin purchasing HELOCs from correspondent lenders.ACHM Trust 2026-HE1 closed July 30 and was announced Aug. 6. It is Achieve’s first HELOC securiti...

Analysis and Data

Better Will Miss September Break-Even Target, Interim CEO Says

Platform volume overtook DTC, but costly enterprise integrations have yet to deliver, and new partnership growth is not expected until Q4

Better Home & Finance will miss its goal of reaching adjusted EBITDA break-even by the end of September, interim CEO Daniel Lewis acknowledged during his first earnings call leading the company.Rather than set another deadline, Lewis said Better must first show that it c...

Oct

Denver, CO

More from

Regulation and Compliance

Servicers Begin Testing Systems Ahead of VA Partial Claim Deadline

VA lenders and servicers have until Nov. 28 to implement the new loss mitigation waterfall and Partial Claim Program

Regulation and Compliance

Aug 06, 2026

ROAD Act’s Housing Incentive May Be Too Small To Move Supply

Realtor.com finds the median city risks losing only about $84,000, although the policy could carry more weight in supply-starved Northeast and Midwest markets

Regulation and Compliance

Aug 05, 2026

CRA Proposal Could Reshape Bank Lending And Affordable Housing Investment

The OCC and FDIC would put more weight on lending while easing community development requirements for hundreds of banks

Regulation and Compliance

Aug 05, 2026

Fannie Mae AI Governance Deadline Arrives Aug. 6

Seller/servicers using artificial intelligence in origination or servicing must have formal policies, oversight, and vendor controls in place

Regulation and Compliance

Jul 31, 2026

Condo Review Deadline Puts Lenders On The Clock

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will eliminate abbreviated project reviews for condo applications dated on or after Aug. 3