Senator
Elizabeth
Warren,
a
Democrat
from
Massachusetts,
left,
speaks
with
Jerome
Powell,
chairman
of
the
U.S.
Federal
Reserve,
during
a
Senate
Banking,
Housing
and
Urban
Affairs
Committee
hearing
in
Washington,
D.C.,
U.S.,
on
Tuesday,
Sept.
28,
2021.
Kevin
Dietsch
|
Bloomberg
|
Getty
Images
Sen.
Elizabeth
Warren,
D-Mass.,
and
three
other
Democratic
lawmakers
are
pushing
Federal
Reserve
Chairman
Jerome
Powell
to
lower
interest
rates
at
the
upcoming
Fed
meeting
to
make
housing
more
affordable.
“As
the
Fed
weighs
its
next
steps
in
the
new
year,
we
urge
you
to
consider
the
effects
of
your
interest
rate
decisions
on
the
housing
market,”
the
senators
wrote
in
a
letter
to
Powell
on
Sunday.
“The
direct
effect
of
these
astronomical
rates
has
been
a
significant
increase
in
the
overall
home
purchasing
cost
to
the
average
consumer,”
the
letter
said.
“We
have
received
the
letter
and
plan
to
respond,”
a
Fed
spokesperson
told
CNBC.
Expensive
housing
costs
have
contributed
to
lagging
public
sentiment
on
the
economy,
a
top
voting
issue
that
has
weighed
on
President
Joe
Biden’s
2024
reelection
campaign.
But
in
December
the
Fed
indicated
that
three
rate
cuts
could
come
in
2024
as
inflation
cools,
which
has
already
helped
lift
consumer
attitudes
on
the
economy.
The
Fed’s
December
forecast
was
a
sigh
of
relief
for
the
housing
market,
which
has
been
under
pressure
over
the
past
few
years
due
to
a
combination
of
record-high
rates
and
a
lingering
supply
shortage.
In
January,
mortgage
demand
surged,
a
signal
that
homebuyers
are
returning
to
a
market
they
have
been
wary
of
for
months.
At
the
start
of
the
pandemic,
the
Fed
massively
cut
rates
and
housing
demand
rose
as
people
hunkered
down
at
home.
That
sent
housing
prices
soaring,
but
when
inflation
kicked
in
the
central
bank
hiked
rates
to
record
highs.
Those
rate
increases
coupled
with
a
severe
supply
shortage
have
led
housing
prices
to
skyrocket
even
further
over
the
past
few
years.
That
expensive
housing
market
squashed
demand
as
many
homebuyers
adopted
a
wait-and-see
mentality
in
hopes
that
prices
would
come
down.
Seller
activity
was
also
in
a
lull
given
that
there
was
little
incentive
to
swap
their
lower
mortgage
contracts
for
the
current
higher
rate.
The
buyer-seller
freeze
could
finally
ease
if
the
Fed
sticks
to
its
rate-cutting
plan
in
2024.
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