Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve started a rate-cutting cycle on Sept. 18, 2025, lowering its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) to a range of 4.75% to 5%. The cut was the first since March 2020 after the Fed raised interest rates to a 23-year high point to cool the economy and quell inflation. The Fed cut rates two more times in 2024, each by 25 basis points. It has not cut interest rates so far in 2025.

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Builder Confidence Shoots Up; Skepticism Abounds

Feb 16, 2007By Paul Jackson

Builder confidence continued to rise in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI increased from 35 in January to 40 in February, up from a low of 30 last September and the highest level since June of 2006, the Association reported. In speaking with industry sources, Housing Wire found most were skeptical that an increase in builder confidence would amount to an improvement of conditions in the mortgage banking industry in the near term, although most expressed hope that increasing confidence might represent a “eventual light at the end of the tunnel,” as one source described it.