Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with her three Democratic counterparts, called on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. The call comes as part of an effort to ease rising housing costs, which are a matter of concern ahead of this week's central bank policy meeting.
In a letter dated Jan. 28, senators expressed concern that higher interest rates are worsening the nation's ongoing housing access and affordability crisis. They called on the Fed to consider the impact of interest rate decisions on the housing market and reverse interest rate increases that have put affordable housing out of reach for many people.
Senator Warren is known for frequently criticizing the FED's interest rate hike policy. He was joined in this venture by John Hickenlooper from Colorado, Jacky Rosen from Nevada, and Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island.
Over the past two years, the Fed has raised interest rates to a 22-year high of 5.25% to 5.5% in an effort to prevent rapid inflation. This policy caused the effective rate on a 30-year mortgage to rise above 8% last year, but it has since fallen.
Senators argue that these high mortgage rates deepen the housing supply crisis and increase rental costs. The FED slowed down interest rate hikes last year and has not raised interest rates since July. Powell and his colleagues have indicated that the next move will likely be a rate cut, and market forecasts suggest that could happen as early as spring.
*This is not investment advice.