Fed Rate Cut, Why Not My Rate?

The recent Fed rate cut to 4.75% is more directly related to the interest of Home Equity Lines of Credit as they are generally tied to Prime (currently 7.75%). Since Prime floats 3% above the Fed Rate there is a direct relationship between the two.

Counter-intuitive though is why the 30 conforming (Fannie and Freddie) fixed mortgage interest rate has gone up a bit since the most recent Fed rate cut. The bellwether for the conforming fixed rate is the 10 year treasury bond yield. That has been increasing as investors have been selling off bonds the last few days. The reason for the sell-off is that investors worry that the Fed rate cut might kick-start inflationary pressures.

So, despite people's wish for the opposite, the Fed rate cut has negatively impacted mortgage rates for the short term.