The Fed holds rates steady at final meeting of 2023

The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) held its short-term policy interest rate steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% at its last meeting of the year on Wednesday. It was the fourth pause recorded in 2023. 

Investors will parse Jerome Powell’s press conference this afternoon for clues about when and why the central bank might change its policy stance next year.

In 2023, the Fed hiked the benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter-point at four meetings, most recently in July.

Financial conditions have eased since the last FOMC meeting on Nov. 1. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.2% during the inter-meeting period from 4.8%. Simultaneously, futures markets priced in a higher chance of more rate hikes by the end of 2024. 

Despite a stronger-than-expected November jobs report, the slowing growth pace of new jobs, the slowing of wage growth and the modest rise in the unemployment rate suggest a cooling of the economy in the coming year, Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, said in a statement last week. Meanwhile, overall inflation slowed in November but core inflation remained stubbornly high. Many economists say the current Fed policy is restrictive enough, if not too restrictive.

Rate relief in 2024

At the beginning of November, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey index hovered just below 8%. It now sits just above 7%, bringing some relief to rate-sensitive homebuyers. 

According to TransUnion, mortgage originations are down nearly 37% year-over-year, from 1.9 million in Q2 2022 to 1.2 million in Q2 2023. Dozens of lenders have gone out of business or been forced to merge in 2023.

Economists in the housing space see better days ahead.

“The Fed’s projections for 2024 will continue to anticipate a normalization in monetary policy in the year ahead,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale.

Hale has forecast mortgage rates to ease further in 2024 as inflation improves and Fed rate cuts draw closer.

“Mortgage rates could near 6.5% by the end of the year, a key factor in starting to provide affordability relief to homebuyers,” Hale said. 

Among the first customers to benefit from reduced interest rates would be those who are currently making payments on mortgages with high rates. 

According to TransUnion data, since January 2021, there have been 3 million new mortgages originated with interest rates of 6% of higher, the total balance of which being over $1 Trillion. The monthly payments of each of these high interest mortgages averages $2,201.

If interest rates dropped to even 5.5%, it could result in significant savings for homeowners, as refinancing at that rate could result in an average monthly payment of $1,917 for them, a reduction of $284 every month, said Michele Raneri, VP of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion. “This would represent nearly $300 a month that these homeowners would be able to use elsewhere in this continued high cost-of-living environment in which every dollar counts.”