Lori Blank & Associates

Real Estate

  • Search MLS
  • Our Listings
  • Home Market Value
  • Our Agents
  • Communities
    • Gilbert
    • Gold Canyon
      • Apache Junction
      • Entrada Del Oro
      • Gold Canyon East
      • Mountainbrook Village
      • Peralta Trails
      • Superstition Foothills
      • Superstition Mountain
    • Mesa
    • San Tan Valley
    • The Foothills at Gold Canyon
  • Blog
  • Contact

Mortgage Rates Dropping After Release Of Fed Minutes

August 24, 2012 by Lori Blank

Fed minutes August 2012Eariler this week, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its 2-day meeting which ended August 1, 2012. Since the release, mortgage rates have dropped.

The Fed Minutes are released on a schedule, three weeks after the FOMC adjourns from one of its 8 scheduled meetings of the year.

The Fed Minutes are meeting minutes; like you’d see after a corporation shareholder meeting, or after a condo board meeting. Specifically, the Fed Minutes details the conversations among Federal Reserve members which shape our nation’s economic policy.

The most recent Fed Minutes show a central bank closer to adding new market stimulus that previously believed.

At its last meeting, the Federal Reserve’s debate focused on the rate of economic growth and whether it was occurring too slowly to be long-lasting. The Fed appears to think so. Without a “substantial and sustainable strengthening” in the pace of economic expansion, it said, additional monetary stimulus would be “warranted fairly soon”.

Other notes from within the Fed Minutes included :

  • On employment : Unemployment rates will “decline only slowly”
  • On housing : The market appears “to have improved, somewhat”
  • On inflation : Retail energy costs are keeping consumer prices low

However, the Fed expressed an “unusually high level of uncertainty” about its assessments owing to the ongoing European sovereign debt problems. “Spillovers” remain possible and default threats continue to weigh on markets. 

The Federal Reserve’s next scheduled meeting is September 12-13, 2012.

Since the minutes were released — and for the first time this month — mortgage rates made a big move lower. This is in contrast to the rest of August through which mortgage rates have climbed steadily.

According to Freddie Mac, on August 1, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate was 3.49% nationwide. Today, the rate is 3.66%. Between now and the Fed’s next policy-making meeting September 13, though, mortgage rates are subject to change. If today’s mortgage rates fit your budget, consider locking in. 

Filed Under: Federal Reserve Tagged With: Fed, Fed Minutes, FOMC

Lori Blank & Associates, LLC
LORI BLANK Broker / Owner / CRS / ABR / GRI / REOS / RECS

6140 S Kings Ranch Road
Gold Canyon, AZ 85118
Main Phone: (480) 983-8383
Cell Phone: (480) 221-7922

New Listings/Pending
Closed Sales
Open Houses

Get a Free Rate Quote →

How can we help?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Connect with Us!

Article Categories

Recent Articles

  • The Three Essential Habits That Successful Home Buyers Must Embrace
  • VA vs FHA vs USDA What’s the Difference?
  • Looking at Home Mortgage Refinancing in 2021
  • What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – April 19, 2021
Equal Housing

Looking for something?

Our Location

Main Office
8676 E Canyon Estates Circle
Gold Canyon, AZ 85118

Branch Office
6140 S Kings Ranch Rd
Gold Canyon, AZ 85118

Copyright © 2021 · Powered by MySMARTblog