The Fed is expected to raise their target rate to 2.875% by February 2023. With that expectation, mortgage rates (yellow line) are soaring. And with that, University of Michigan’s Buying Conditions for housing has plunged to 43, the lowest levels since 1982 as the US was trying to recover from high inflation.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index just plunged to the LOWEST LEVEL in history on inflation and Fed’s reaction.
Average REAL wage growth has now declined to -2.11% YoY.
Inflation, the bane of the middle class and working families, just rose to 8.6%.
Core inflation, that excludes energy and food, actually declined slightly to 6% from 6.2% in April. But since most families are concerned with gas prices and food, (not to mention home prices growing at 21.17% YoY), core inflation really underestimates the suffering.
Under Biden’s leadership in cooperation with eternal Fed stimulus (until now), inflation started at 1.4% YoY and has increased to 8.6% YoY. The Fed’s balance sheet has increased by 20.27% (more monetary Stimulypto!), Case-Shiller home prices started at 10.44% YoY and has now doubled to 20.55% YoY. Regular gasoline started at $2.57 and is now at $5.42, up 102%. Food is up 61%.
The Fed is expecting two half-point hikes followed by quarter-point increases.
Here is my version of their chart since 2000 where you can seen the seismic shift in the balance sheet (toxic green slime line), particularly with The Fed’s response to Covid. The Fed is signaling a tightening in monetary policy to help reduce inflation (blue line).
But notice that M2 Money Velocity (GDP/M2) is now near the all-time low along with consumer purchasing power.
How BIG is The Fed’s balance sheet? Try more that a third of size of US GDP.
And as The Fed signals its inflation-fighting intentions, mortgage rates have shot up to 5.51%, the highest mortgage rate since June 2009.
The Federal Reserve has been signaling a tightening of its loose monetary policy (essentially loose since the housing bubble burst of 2008 and the ensuing financial crisis). It is still loose as The Fed hasn’t really trimmed its massive balance sheet yet and has just raised it target rate to 1%.
So, potential home owners have to pay 5.10% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage while the effective Fed Funds rate, the rate at which banks lend to each other, is a measly 0.83%. This puts consumers at a relative disadvantage to large Wall Street firms that are gobbling up houses at an accelerated rate.
With the US housing market slowing (thanks to The Fed’s signaling of monetary tightening), the question now is how far will The Fed go in its “War on Inflation!”?
You can see a major cause of inflation in the US since 2000: Federal spending and Federal (public) debt. During The Great Recession of 2008-2009, we saw inflation (CPI YoY) collapse into negative territory as Federal spending and debt soared. But the mini-recession of 2020 caused by the Covid governments shutdowns led to TWO surges in Federal spending and debt: Covid relief followed by the infrastructure spending bill. Combined with Biden’s anti-fossil fuel executive orders and massive splash of Federal spending in to the economy, we have inflation soaring.
If surges in Federal spending (requiring surges in Federal debt) have gone away (except for $40 billion in Ukrainian relief and Biden’s possible student loan cancellation of $10,000 that will cost an estimated $321 billion … and help drive up college tuitions even further), we may be over the “twin gorgings” of the Covid spending spree. This alone may result is a decline in the inflation rate.
Where do we sit today with the REAL neutral rate? The REAL Fed Funds Target Rate (upper bound) is -4.41%. It was in positive territory during the Trump years. But then Covid struck.
No wonder Wall Streeters like to go “Down To The Nightclub!” The Fed still has not taken the monetary stimulypto away, but have taken it away for consumers buying housing.
US pending homes sales in April tanked -11.5% YoY and down -3.9% MoM which was greater than expected.
Not really surprising when you see that REAL home prices are growing at an 11.55% YoY clip while REAL hourly earnings are declining at a -2.8% YoY pace.
Do you feel like I do with Bidenflation crushing my check book and The Fed crushing my hopes for an affordable home.
I have never seen two Federal entities make such a mess in my life. The Federal Reserve and The Federal government.
The good news? The 10-year Treasury yield is down -12.9 BPS this morning generally resulting in lower 30-year mortgage rates. Of course, the reason why the 10-yield is falling is generally bad news.
The bad news? US New Home Sales fell -16.6% MoM in April as mortgage rates skyrocketed.
Since the installation of Joe Biden as President, new home sales have plunged -31.2%, mortgage rates are up 88.9%, and framing lumber prices are up 29.2%.
Biden is out there bragging about rising energy prices which he views as a necessity to force the conversion of America to electric cars and trucks. Biden is the first President in history to gloat over the suffering of American households.
Under Biden, regular gasoline prices are up 92%, diesel prices are up 111%, and CRB Foodstuffs are up 61%.
Say, framing lumber for housing is cheaper than food. Maybe Biden will suggest Americans transform to being beavers and gnaw on wood.
As The Federal Reserve tries to fight inflation (it can’t thanks to Federal energy policies and bottlenecks), it is causing a disconnect between mortgage current coupon rate and the MBS index coupon. The disconnect is so bad that it is back to 1985 levels.
The Fed can certainly try to cool inflation, but Biden is intent on raising energy prices (leading to food price increases, and everything else) to shift us to electric cars. So, Biden is unlikely to back off.
So, The Fed is left trying to fight a war against inflation that only Biden can fight.
Meanwhile, the US mortgage market is getting pulverized
US home prices were growing at a near 20% YoY rate for the latest Case-Shiller National home price index report. But mortgage rates have soaring like a SpaceX missile shot.
Of course, I am moving to one of the metro areas in the USA where closed sales fell only -1.10% YoY in April: Columbus Ohio. I should move to San Diego CA where closed sales fell -21.4% YoY.
Of course, the US still suffers from lack of available inventory for sale.
April new listings are down -5.7% YoY. Columbus Ohio didn’t change from April ’21. San Diego is down -18.4% YoY for new listings.
Rising mortgage rates? Inflation? What a total fiasco.
Mortgage rates have increased dramatically under “Middle Class Joe” as The Federal Reserve attempts to choke-off inflation caused by … The Fed coupled with Biden’s energy policies (hope you are enjoying those high gasoline and diesel prices!) and the Federal government’s staggering spending spree under Pelosi, Schumer and McConnell.
Thus far, The Federal Reserve has leveled-out out their Treasury Note and Bond purchases, increased their Agency Mortgage-backed Securities (AgMBS) holdings, but strangely have reduced their holding of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) in the face of rising inflation.
And while The Fed Funds Target rate is a lowly 1%, it is projected to rise to 2.890% by the February 1, 2023 FOMC meeting. That should send mortgage rates up.
As if mortgage rates haven’t skyrocketed already, thanks to The Fed’s jawboning about having to raise rates and extinguish inflation.
With sizzling mortgage rates (cooling a bit as the global economy slows), home mortgage payments have risen +43.4% YoY.
Now we have President Biden trying to scare us about the Monkey Pox, yet leaves the southern border wide open. One would think that Biden would shut the borders (as if the surge in Fentanyl, sex trafficking and other diseases aren’t reason enough. But I do predict another massive spending bill from Biden/Congress to combat Monkey Pox and the resurgence of Covid variants.
Meanwhile The Fed jawbones fighting inflation with monetary tightening in the future, even if they jawboning causes mortgage rates to soar and mortgage payments to spiral.
US Existing Home Sales were 5.61M SAAR in April, down -2.4% from March’s -3.0% MoM reading. But median prices YoY for existing home sales printed at 14.85%, still hot, hot, hot.
With 3 consecutive declines in MoM existing home sales, how can prices still be raging at 14.85%? First, inventory for sale in April remains low compared to 2010 (yellow line). Second, The Federal Reserve’s Stimulypto (excessive monetary easing) is still out there in force despite Jerome “Slowhand” Powell signaling rate increases (green line). 30Y mortgage rates are still rising.
Where do we go from here? 30 year mortgage rates have been climbing as The Fed signals its intents to tighten monetary policy. But with global economic slowing, Treasury yields have been coming down (like today’s -5.2 BPS drop (Germany’s 10Y Bund Yield dropped -8 BPS on slowing global economic growth).
But remember, the Existing Home Sales numbers are for April.
Confounded Interest - Anthony B. Sanders 
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