Mortgage Rates & How They Impact You

Over the last several years we have seen both high mortgage rates and record-low rates. Low mortgage rates mean quite the volatile housing market. When rates were down, homes would only be up for a few days and often sold above asking price. While high rates mean houses on the market for months. What can you expect if you’re still waiting to buy a home in this ever-changing market?

Let’s take a deeper dive into how mortgage interest rates are determined and what that means for the average person wanting to purchase a home.

What is the Federal Reserve?

The Federal Reserve, also known as the Fed, is the central bank of the United States. Its purpose is to keep the U.S. economy operating at optimal efficiency. The Fed primarily focuses on employment and inflation. To prevent the Fed from gaining too much power, it has a system of checks in place, including the following:

• A Board of Governors that is independent of the federal government
• Twelve semi-independent Federal Reserve Banks, each of which represents a particular geographic area of the U.S. and are the operating arms of the Fed
• The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of 12 people

What Does the Federal Reserve Do?

To help the country maintain maximum employment levels and stability in prices, the FOMC votes on whether their current target range for the monetary policy rate is appropriate for the contemporary economic climate.

This target rate, also known as the Federal Funds Rate, is when financial institutions, like banks and credit unions, lend money to each other. As a general rule, if inflation rises, the Fed will raise its interest rates to contain it. On the flip side, if the economy is heading toward a recession, the Fed will lower the interest rate to help promote lending and economic activity.

What Happens When the Fed Raises Interest Rates?

When the Fed increases interest rates, financial institutions also raise their rates. Consequently, the cost of borrowing money becomes higher, and consumers are more hesitant to take out large loans. This may discourage people from buying homes, cars, or launching a new business. Conversely, it encourages more people to save as the savings rates offered by banks and credit unions will typically increase, too. These factors mean less money is circulating in the economy, which will hopefully reduce inflation.

How Does Rising Rates Impact the Stock Market?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to predict how the stock market will react to increased interest rates. The market’s volatile nature means there’s no direct correlation between its performance and the Fed’s rate.

In general, though, rising interest rates are not good news to stock investors since companies will be hesitant to borrow the capital they need to grow their businesses. This will likely result in lower revenues and smaller returns for investors. However, certain sectors, like financial institutions, may benefit from an increased interest rate.

Does Rising Rates Affect the Value of Bonds?

The price of bonds is inversely related to interest rates. This means an increase in interest rates will cause an equivalent drop in the price of bonds.

Newer bonds cause the price drop on the market, which offers higher coupon rates, or the ratio between the interest the bond pays and its price, to reflect the recently increased interest rates.

How Do I Manage My Finances?

The average consumer has been struck by the increased prices of everything from gas to groceries over the past year. There’s good news for the struggling consumer, as the anticipated increases in interest rates are expected to help tame inflation.

However, there are other steps you may want to take to protect your investments and manage your money as rates increase:

• Stay Calm and Ignore the News. Alarming headlines get the most clicks, but stock market news nearly always sounds more distressing than it actually is. It’s rarely a good idea to liquidate a stock based on headlines alone. In addition, long-term growth can usually make temporary losses obsolete.
• Plan Ahead. As always, it’s best to have savings set aside for any economic circumstance. If you don’t already have one, build an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses to prepare for any economic reality. As a bonus, beefing up your savings when interest rates are rising means giving your money a better chance at growth.
• When in Doubt, Seek Professional Advice. If market news takes an alarming turn, you may want to seek the counsel of a financial advisor for the best steps to take with your investments. Rebalancing your portfolio with a new asset allocation can help your investments maintain peak performance levels even during rising rates.

Interest rates will likely be going up soon as the Fed tries to control rampant inflation. Use the tips outlined here and consider the steps you may want to take with your finances.