Here is a little historical perspective regarding the Fed Funds rate during the last housing correction in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. The Fed funds rate in Feb 1989 was 9.75, by Sept 1992 it had fallen to 3.00. So during the last housing recession the Fed lowered 675 bps which is more than the 5.25 rate today. Nominal home prices in S. California fell over 30% in the early 90’s as the FED was cutting away. The metrics of the peak home prices of today i.e. home price to income, and home price to rent are twice as high as the peak in the late 80’s. If you watched Greenspan’s interview tonight he pointed out the FED today does not have the ability to lower rates as easily as they did in Greenspan’s era due to today’s inflationary risk. The days of the Greenspan put are pretty much over and that is according to Greenspan himself. I am sure Ben Bernanke is glad he said that. So no the upcoming rate cuts will not help that much, it’s kind of like shooting down a grizzly bear with a BB gun.
