Inflation Pressures Are Easing but Rate Cut Forecast Remains Uncertain

The New Year is beginning where the old one ended -- with uncertainty about when – or whether – the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates.

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Local governments have long used eminent domain as a mechanism for taking public property for public purposes. Now some country governments are considering using the same legal strategy to “take” underwater mortgages from lenders in order to help struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is eyeing new regulations for reverse mortgages. A recent CFPB report found that demand for the loans – restricted to borrowers 62 and older – is growing, but the product’s complicated structure and misleading marketing practices related to it are creating a minefield of hidden risks for consumers.

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“No news” may be “good news” in the eyes of many publicity-shy corporate executives, but “no change” was definitely not the news anyone wanted to hear about the unemployment rate, which remained stubbornly, painfully elevated at 8.2 percent in June as employers added only 80,000 jobs for the month.

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With “appreciation” not found often in sentences with “home prices” these days, many homeowners are building equity the old-fashioned way – they’re paying down mortgage debt. Residential mortgage debt doubled between 2001 and 2007 but has declined by 7 percent since, pushing home equity to the highest level since 2008. Homeowner equity jumped to 41 percent of residential property value in the first quarter the largest in 60 years, according to a Bloomberg News report, based on an analysis of Federal Reserve data.