Federal Reserve’s inflation-busting tactics slammed

The Federal Reserve’s apparent inability to rein in runaway inflation is hitting the pockets of ordinary homeowners as they struggle to cope with rising mortgage rates and the cost-of-living crisis, Melissa Cohn (pictured), regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage, has said.

Cohn, a mortgage industry veteran with more than 40 years’ experience, said the speed at which mortgage rates had increased had caught her by surprise, adding that spiraling inflation and the apparent inability by the Federal Reserve to control matters would soon begin to take their toll on borrowers.

“The biggest surprise is just how far and how fast rates have gone over the course of the past three months. We were living under the understanding that the Fed said that inflation was transitory, and they were wrong,” she said, adding that the “massive increase” in interest rates “is really hurting the economy”.