Mortgage Rates Fall After Federal Reserve Calms Concerns

Mortgage rates fell slightly over the last seven days as comments from the Federal Reserve calmed concerns that the central bank would be tightening monetary policy.

Investors had been hedging their bets ahead of the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference last week, bracing for a hawkish turn from the central bank, and mortgage rates nudged higher as a result. But in a statement following the conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that while a modest tightening of policy would likely be necessary by the end of the year, the central bank remains far from taking more drastic efforts, such as increasing interest rates. Bond yields retreated slightly following the statement and mortgage rates followed suit, even as fresh inflation data showed firm price pressures persist.

Mortgage rates have flattened in the days since, but that could change on Friday – in either direction – with the release of August’s job data.