The Federal Reserve Lowers Interest Rates By 0.5%

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The Federal Reserve, acting in coordination with other global central banking authorities, cut a key US interest rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday to steady a teetering economy. The Fed reduced its key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent.

In Europe, which also has been hard hit by the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent, while the European Central Bank sliced its rate to 3.75 percent.

Other central banks also taking part include the banks of Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland. China also cut its key interest rates for a second time in less than one month to stimulate slowing economic growth amid the global credit crisis.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues ratcheted down their key rate by 0.5 percentage point to 1.5 percent. The action revives the central bank’s rate-cutting campaign which had been halted in June out of concerns that those low rates would worsen inflation. Since then, however, economic and financial conditions have dangerously deteriorated, forcing the Fed to reverse course.

The fact that the Fed felt it couldn’t wait until its regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 28-29, underscored the urgency of the situation.

The Fed took the action in a coordinated move with other central banks, which also were cutting their rates.

“The pace of economic activity has slowed markedly in recent months,” the Fed said “Moreover, the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit.”

Although inflation has been high, the Fed believes that the recent drop in energy prices and the weaker prospects for economic activity have reduced this threat to the economy. The Wednesday cuts come as markets in Asia and Europe sink amid waning confidence, Britain steps in to support banks, and Russia closes its main stock market for two days.

In addition, the Fed reduced its emergency lending rate to banks by half a percentage point to 1.75 percent. Given the intense credit crisis, banks have been ramping up their borrowing from the Fed’s emergency “discount” window.

In response, the prime lending rate for millions of borrowers will drop by a corresponding amount. The prime rate applies to certain credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other loans.

The hope was to spur nervous consumers and businesses to spend more freely again. They clamped down as housing, credit and financial problems intensified last month, throwing Wall Street into chaos. Many believe the country is on the brink of, or already in, its first recession since 2001.

The Fed’s last rate cut was in late April, capping one of the most aggressive rate-cutting campaigns in decades as it scrambled to shore up the faltering economy. After that, the Fed moved to the sidelines, holding rates steady as zooming food and energy prices during that period threatened to ignite inflation. In the past few months, energy prices have retreated from record highs reached in mid-July, giving the Fed more leeway to drop rates again.

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Renters Are Affected By Depressed Housing Market

In some areas renters are also experiencing problems as a result of the housing market crash. This has been quite a surprise for many people because they thought they were immune to the housing crash because they had not taken out a mortgage. At the time, this seemed to be a safe strategy. Many people assumed they were doing the safe thing by waiting to purchase a home until the housing market stabilized.

Many renters in some areas are quickly discovering they are not immune to housing problems after all. One of the most common problems is the fact that while renters do not have a mortgage on their property, their landlords do have a mortgage. If the landlord is not able to make their monthly mortgage payments due to rising interest rates and adjustable rate mortgages, the rental property could very well go into foreclosure.

When that happens, renters could find themselves facing eviction. In some cases, renters have discovered they had only 30 days to leave properties they had rented for quite some time. This has placed a tremendous amount of stress of many renters as they struggle to suddenly not only locate a new place to rent but also to come up with the cash necessary to make rental deposits.

In other cases renters have been affected by rapidly rising rental prices. Nationally, rental prices have begun to rise. Currently, the worse places to rent because of rising rental prices are San Francisco and New York. Seattle, San Jose and Cleveland are also showing signs of rising rental rates. San Bernardino and San Diego are not far behind, either.

One of the reasons that rents are rising in these locations is the fact that developers have not been able to construct as many new apartment buildings. In highly populous areas this has resulted in a large demand with little supply. When supply is not able to keep up with the demand, the natural result is raising prices. To make matters worse, rapidly increasing numbers of former homeowners are either selling their homes as a result of the housing crash or being forced out of their homes due to foreclosures. They must have someplace to go and renting is often the only viable option for these individuals and families, further increasing the demand for rentals.

Overall, the national vacancy rate for rentals has declined more than 10% in the last four years, clearly indicating that more people are renting properties today than they were right before the housing boom of 2005. Nationally, rents have also risen 14% over the same time period, as reported by the Census Bureau.

A number of factors have contributed to the rising rate of rental prices. One of the most important factors that have contributed to rising rental rates is the fact that more and more renters are waiting for the prices of homes to drop before they make the decision to purchase. Many renters are assuming that home prices have not yet hit the bottom. For these renters, it just simply does not make sense to buy right now. Quite simply, most renters do not want to find themselves in the same financial troubles that many homeowners have been subjected to in the last two years.

There is also the fact that even buyers who would be willing to buy right now are simply not able to do so because of difficulty in qualify for affordable mortgages. Following the collapse of the subprime market, many lenders have tightened restrictions and now requesting not only good credit but excellent credit. Requirements for larger down payments have also increased, making it increasingly difficult for first-time home buyers to realize their dreams of home ownership.

The health of the rental market is being eyed with some concern due to the fact that the rental market actually has a strong impact on other sectors. The construction of apartment buildings, for example, is frequently affected by the health of the rental market.

Popularity: 36% [?]

President Bush Tries To Secure Deal To Shore-Up Banking Sector

President George W Bush has said that legislators will “rise to the occasion” and pass the Wall Street rescue plan.

In a statement he said there were still disagreements because “the proposal is big and the reason it’s big is because it’s a big problem”.

President Bush is expected to resume talks with Congressional leaders later on Friday to try to reach an agreement.

He wants to pass a $700bn (£380bn) rescue package to buy mortgage-backed assets from US banks.

Harmful

“There is no disagreement that something substantial must be done,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, agreed, saying on Friday: “We’re going to get this done and stay in session as long as it takes to get it done.”

He also said that “the insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful, it’s been harmful” adding that Republican presidential candidate John McCain had not made his position on the financial rescue package clear.

Mr McCain, who had announced that he not take part in a presidential debate with rival Barack Obama until a bail-out plan was agreed, said on Friday that he would fly to Mississippi for the debate later.

Resistance

Republican critics of the bail-out plan are worried about both its cost and how it would involve the government in the financial sector.

The BBC’s Adam Brookes in Washington predicted a tough day of negotiations ahead.

“Republicans in the House are going to continue, they say, to try to resist this plan,” he said.

“They are also trying to convince Senator John McCain, the presidential contender, to jump in their direction.”

Instead, the rebels want a government-backed insurance policy to cover the huge amounts of bad debt built up by US banks. Democrats meanwhile want to secure limits to payments for executives of failed banks and ensure there is adequate help for struggling US homeowners.

Popularity: 44% [?]

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Information

Who is Eligible

• The $7,500 tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only.

• The law defines a first-time home buyer as a buyer who has not owned a home during the past three years.

• All U.S. citizens who file taxes are eligible to participate in the program.

Types of Homes that Qualify for the Tax Credit

• All homes, whether single-family, townhomes or condominiums will qualify.

• However, there are several conditions:

o The home must be used as a principal residence, and

o The buyer has not owned a home in the prior three years.

• The Tax Credit includes newly-constructed homes.

Income Limits

• Home buyers who file as single or head-of-household taxpayers can claim the full $7,500 credit if their adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $75,000.

• For married couples filing a joint return, the income limit doubles to $150,000.

• Single or head-of-household taxpayers who earn between $75,000 and $95,000 are eligible to receive a partial first-time home buyer tax credit.

• Married couples filing jointly who earn between $150,000 and $170,000 are eligible to receive a partial first-time home buyer tax credit.

• The credit is not available for single taxpayers whose AGI is greater than $95,000 and married couples filing jointly with an AGI that exceeds $170,000.

Effective Dates for the Tax Credit

• First-time home buyers would receive a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of any home on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. To qualify, you must actually close on the sale of the home during this period.

Tax Credit is Refundable

• A refundable credit means that if you pay less than $7,500 in federal income taxes, then the government will write you a check for the difference.

o For example, if you owe $5,000 in federal income taxes, you would pay nothing to the IRS and receive a $2,500 payment from the government.

o If you are due to receive a $1,000 tax refund from the government, your refund would grow to $8,500 ($1,000 plus $7,500 from the home buyer tax credit).

• If you purchased the home in 2008, the tax credit is taken on your 2008 tax return. If you buy in 2009, you have the option of taking the credit on your 2008 or 2009 tax returns.

Payback Provisions

• The tax credit is an interest-free loan that must be repaid over 15 years.

• The minimum repayment amount must be 15 equal annual installments. For example, if the credit amount is $7,500, then the home buyer must repay a minimum of $500 each year for 15 years.

• A home buyer must begin repaying the credit two tax years after claiming the credit. For example, if the credit is claimed on the 2008 tax return, repayment of $500 (or less, if the credit amount is less than $7,500) per year begins with the 2010 return.

• If the home owner sells the home for a profit and there is a remaining credit, then the home owner is required to repay the remaining credit during the tax year of the home sale. The amount of the repayment will depend upon the amount of profit from the home sale:

o If the profit on the sale is more than the remaining credit, then the home owner must repay the entire remaining credit.

o If the profit on the sale is less than the remaining credit, then the home owner must repay an amount equal to the profit on the home sale. The remaining credit payback will be forgiven.

• If the home owner sells the home but did not make any profit on the home sale, then the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.

Further information regarding the tax credit may be found at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com or www.irs.gov.

This information is provided for general awareness only, and is not intended for the purpose of providing legal, accounting, tax advice or consulting of any kind. Please consult with your tax professional for complete details.

Popularity: 27% [?]

US Mortgage Rates Decline Dramatically

Mortgage rates have fallen as a result of the US federal government’s intervention of mortgage group Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 40 basis points, to 6.15 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. The mortgages in this week’s survey had an average total of 0.43 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.28 percent; four weeks ago, it was 6.74 percent.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 28 basis points, to 5.81 percent, and the 30-year jumbo, for large loans, fell 11 basis points, to 7.41 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 21 basis points, to 6.08 percent.

While rates fell abruptly, it wasn’t even the biggest one-week drop this year. Nor is this the lowest level for mortgage rates this year. In mid-March, the 30-year fixed fell 41 basis points in one week, to 5.98 percent.

The road to possibly higher rates is rather long and winding according to economist sanders.

“My concern is that the feds are taking over and, for better or for worse, the profit motive has been dissipated,”

On top of that, the government’s takeover plan calls for Fannie and Freddie to sell the mortgage-backed securities that they own. That sell-off is scheduled to start in 2010 and to last for years.

Think of the implications of that sell-off. Rates fell this week because Treasury announced that the government-controlled Fannie and Freddie will buy mortgage-backed securities. So what’s the natural consequence when Fannie and Freddie are required to sell mortgage-backed securities? If buying them causes rates to go down, then it seems natural that selling them would cause mortgage rates to rise.

That outcome is a few years down the road, and it’s not a sure thing. “I don’t expect much to happen until the next president and Congress take office,” says Dean Baker, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

He says Republicans might want to break up and privatize Fannie and Freddie. Some Democrats might want to keep them under government control and focus them on meeting affordable-housing goals. Some politicians might want to restore Fannie and Freddie to what they were before — government-sponsored enterprises — but regulated more heavily.

Popularity: 47% [?]