Powell: Fed ‘should have' stopped buying mortgage-backed securities sooner as the pandemic housing boom raged on

Core Insights - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that the Fed may have prolonged its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchases during the pandemic, but suggested that their impact on the housing market may have been less significant than assumed [3][5][9] - Powell indicated that various factors, including pandemic-related demand shifts and supply constraints, played a role in the housing market dynamics beyond just MBS purchases [4][9][10] Summary by Sections Federal Reserve's MBS Purchases - Powell reflected on the Fed's pandemic-era MBS purchases, admitting that they might have been maintained for too long [3][5] - He noted that the Fed's actions were intended to mitigate economic risks during the pandemic [5][11] Impact on Housing Market - Critics argue that the Fed's MBS purchases contributed to an overheated housing market by keeping mortgage rates artificially low, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reaching a record low of 2.65% in January 2021 [8][9] - Powell acknowledged some validity to this critique but emphasized that other factors, such as increased demand for housing and limited supply, were also influential [9][10] Future Monetary Policy - Powell stated that while the Fed cannot reverse its past asset purchases, it can adopt a more flexible approach in future quantitative easing (QE) programs [10][11] - He firmly rejected the idea of resuming MBS purchases to address current housing affordability issues, emphasizing that the Fed's focus is on overall inflation rather than specific housing prices [12][13]