BY SUDEEP REDDY AND JAMES R. HAGERTY
The Federal Reserve, in a move aimed at keeping interest rates low for home buyers through early next year, decided to extend and gradually phase out its purchase of mortgage-backed securities.
The Fed’s action signals its belief that the economy, while in recovery, remains fragile and that housing, which has seen some improvement in recent months, has only started to pull out of its slump.
“We definitely need help from the government,” says Lee Barrett, president of Century 21 Barrett, a real-estate brokerage firm in Las Vegas. “I don’t think the market can make it on its own.”