On today’s Hot Sheet, Byron Lazine broke down the Federal Open Market Committee’s unanimous decision to hold interest rates steady at 3.5%–3.75% and highlighted key housing-market moments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s first FOMC press conference.
He also reviewed new Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data showing mortgage applications fell 3.8% last week, with both purchase and refinance activity declining, while purchase demand remained slightly above year-ago levels.
For the final topic, Byron examined U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unemployment data showing initial jobless claims fell to 226,000 as the insured unemployment rate held at 1.2% and insured unemployment increased to 1.81 million.
