Fundamentals 6/22: Home Prices 19.3% Below Peak

April FHFA Single Family Home Price Index:
-Month/Month: 0.8%, first gain since May 2010
-Year/Year: -5.7%
-Prices 19.3% below April 2007 peak
-Prices roughly same as January 2004
-Full report tracks prices of homes with Fannie/Freddie loans

Mortgage Applications:
-Purchases Week/Week: -2.8%
-Refinances Week/Week: -7.2%
-Composite Index Week/Week: -5.9%

FOMC:
The FOMC rate policy decision is today at 9:30 ET with Bernanke’s press conference to follow at 2:15 ET. The Federal Reserve is given the dual mandate of containing inflation and keeping unemployment low. All that the Fed can do involves (1) money supply and (2) short-term interest rates. It is hard to imagine how the Fed could do more than it has already done.