If you’re nervous about the Fed ending quantitative easing, don’t be. Delta Associates (Transwestern's research arm) EVP Sandy Paul tells us it’s actually a good thing. (We should all be focusing our fear on the threat of robots, anyway.)
The Fed has been steadily decreasing its bond purchases, buying $10B less each month (it’s down to $45B/month now, a little bit higher than our allowance in middle school), and it should be done with the program by the end of the year. Sandy (here on the field at MetLife Stadium, a big deal for the native New Yorker and big Giants fan) says investors and the stock market tend to get jittery any time the Fed changes policy, envisioning rising interest rates. But he tells us the Fed has been faithfully following the plan it laid out, which should make everyone more comfortable and increase certainty in the market.
Sandy says the end of quantitative easing is a reflection of the Fed’s confidence that the economy can be self-sufficient. And new chair Janet Yellen has been keeping interest rates low—she plans to keep short-term rates between zero and 0.25% until unemployment falls further or inflation becomes problematic (at 2% over the last 12 months, so far so good). As long as job growth continues, Sandy believes the end of quantitative easing will lead to more real estate transactions nationwide, especially in the office sector. (That's where uncertainty has been killing some deals for the past few years.)
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