Fed Cut Discount Rate from 6.25% to 5.75%
John Thomas
August 17, 2007
Tags: Discount Rate, Fed Funds Rate
The Federal Reserve has taken significant action in the last few weeks due to the credit crunch. And now they’ve made an unexpected move by cutting the discount window rate which is great news. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s look at recent events and understand what they mean.
Market movement
To date, over 120 mortgage companies have closed their doors due to reduced liquidity. The result: Borrowers who want to take out non-conforming loans have fewer, more expensive options.
Many media outlets have incorrectly added fuel to the fire by stating that mortgage lending has stopped altogether and that borrowers can’t get a loan without a 20% down-payment. This is not true.