Summary: And the “Beigie” Award goes to…. the Boston Fed!! The Beige Book provides a snapshot of economic activity in the different Federal Reserve Districts every six weeks. Importantly, it does in a very qualitatively, often featuring anecdotes or observations from regional businesses. The Indicator’s favorite entry for this edition describes the scramble for seasonal workers as Cape Cod hospitality businesses ramp up for the summer We describe how you can set-up your own Beigie Award activity in class!
Summary: The Fed raised interest rates by 25bp yesterday. How does that affect you? This episode aired almost exactly year ago– when the Fed was just embarking on its rate hikes– delves into the implications for mortgage rates. The accompanying teaching idea prompts students to put themselves in the shoes of a homebuyer.
Summary: The Federal Housing Finance Agency begins to help 33,000 homeowners who financed their mortgages through Freddie Mae or Fannie Mac and are are more than 15% underwater and 90 days delinquent on payments. Assistance includes lowering interest rates and the balance of principal owed
Summary: Many people are still feeling the after-effects of the Great Recession, especially young adults. Young adults still have a higher than average unemployment rate, and are not hitting traditional milestones–such as living alone, starting careers, buying their first home–and have been described as a generation that has “failed to launch” due to the poor economy. Everything that is happening to this generation is happening later in life as they work to launch themselves as independent, self-supporting adults in the harsh economic environment.
Summary: Large investors have started buying houses–in the past few years, they have bought almost 200,000 new homes. The strategy was to buy low, and set the rent high. Interestingly enough, housing prices have appreciated, and rental prices have stayed the same, which results in not as big of a profit for the investors. This has created what they call rental-backed securities.
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