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Yellen, Powell Briefed on Housing in Oversight Council Meeting

Yellen, Powell Briefed on Housing in Oversight Council Meeting

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell were among top U.S. regulators briefed Friday on the nation’s roaring housing market during a meeting of a council that’s tasked with gauging risks to the financial system.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council “heard a presentation from Federal Housing Finance Agency staff on recent trends in housing markets, including prices, sales and mortgage forbearance rates,” the Treasury Department said in a statement, without providing more details.

Friday’s session was the first time Yellen’s FSOC discussed concerns about the housing market in a substantial way, people familiar with the matter previously said. The issue was briefly raised in the prior two meetings, held in March and June, then temporarily set aside, they said.

The group on Friday also heard an update on the Fed’s recently announced bank stress-test results and was briefed on work related to an executive order on climate-related financial risks.

Other attendees at the meeting included Michael J. Hsu, acting Comptroller of the Currency; Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler; Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams; and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Rostin Behnam.

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