As noted in USA Today, dipping mortgage rates could be attributed to the improving sentiment of bond investors. That's especially the case for those investing in mortgage bonds. And that creates an opportunity for the Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities Index Fund ETF Shares (VMBS). Declining interest rates have put real estate back into the investing spotlight as greater affordability should help spur the housing industry again. As USA Today mentioned, the spread between prevailing 30-year mortgage rates a ...

Core Viewpoint - The Federal Reserve's potential actions to lower U.S. mortgage rates may not be beneficial and could lead to another boom-and-bust cycle in the housing market [1][2]. Group 1: Federal Reserve's Actions - Economists at Mizuho Securities express caution regarding the Federal Reserve's tools to artificially lower mortgage rates, emphasizing the risk of repeating past housing market mistakes [2][4]. - Current mortgage rates around 6.26% are not considered high historically, with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) likely to be wary of using quantitative tools to depress long-term rates [4][5]. Group 2: Housing Market Dynamics - The issue of home affordability is more related to home prices than mortgage rates, indicating that simply lowering rates may not resolve the underlying problems in the housing market [5]. - The bond market has experienced "euphoria" due to expectations of lower rates, which has positively impacted the nearly $10 trillion market for government-backed mortgage bonds [5][6]. Group 3: Market Reactions - The recent rally in the mortgage bond market has led to a decrease in mortgage rates, prompting many borrowers to refinance, particularly into riskier adjustable-rate loans [6]. - Suggestions have been made, such as Pimco's recommendation for the Fed to reinvest proceeds from maturing mortgage bonds back into the sector to quickly reduce mortgage rates [6][7].