Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, whom we’ve discussed before, stated this morning that he was in favor of three rate cuts this year. He emphasized:

“The Fed needs to strike a balance between its dual mandate of employment and inflation.”

Atlanta Fed President and voting member Raphael Bostic had a slightly different tune, advocating for one rate cut this year. He mentioned:

“I expect little or no change in the current 3.9% unemployment rate.”

Translation: If the unemployment rate increases, he may support more rate cuts.

New home sales remain stable at a 662,000 annualized pace, which is positive news, with sales up 5.9% year over year.

Here’s an interesting observation regarding the median new home price, reported at $400,500, down 3.5% from January and 7.6% from last year. While the initial reaction may suggest a downturn, it’s primarily a statistical adjustment due to the sale of lower-priced homes. Additionally, only 24% of builders reduced home prices, down from 36% in December, according to the NAHB.

My perspective on all of this is that the data is available; we just need a bit more time to validate it. Below Fed Dot Plot. Voting members forward indication of future Fed Rates.