NAR: No Rate Hike Is a 'Very Positive Signal'

The Fed's decision indicates that it realizes the vital role housing plays in the economy, says NAR President Thomas M. Stevens.
NAR: REALTOR® Magazine Online
The decision this week by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee to not raise the federal funds rate for the 18th straight time indicates that the Federal Reserve recognizes the value of the housing economy to the national economy as a whole, the president of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® says.

“This move sends a very positive signal to the housing sector, which has been so robust over the past five years that it has sustained the economy while other sectors have lagged," says NAR President Thomas M. Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc. "Largely as a direct result of more than two years of interest rate hikes, the housing market today is fragile in some parts of the country. The Fed’s decision indicates that it realizes the vital role housing plays in the economy.”

The decision by the Federal Open Market Committee leaves the banks’ prime lending rate, the benchmark for various consumer and business loans, at 8.25 percent. Before the Fed started raising rates in June 2004, the prime had been at 4 percent.

Stevens says the Fed’s decision indicates it realizes the economy has slowed, especially the housing economy. “We can’t continue to raise rates without expecting the housing economy to suffer. That translates into higher costs for home buyers, slower sales and a lower level of economic activity in housing, which accounts for one-fourth to one-fifth of the gross domestic product,” he says.