President Joe Biden’s top economic advisor delivered a straight-faced assessment of the current state of mortgages in the U.S. in what seemed an apparent denial of reality.
National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard spoke at the White House press briefing Thursday, asserting that mortgage rates have come down in the country.
Top Biden economic advisor Lael Brainard: “Mortgage rates have actually come down!”
When Biden took office, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.7%. Today, it remains around 7%. pic.twitter.com/fku1ZSQI6i
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 11, 2024
“We are very focused on housing affordability,” she told reporters in response to a question about high rates.
“We’d like to see Congress pass housing tax credits. The President has put them in his budget every year. Those have always been critical for increasing the supply of affordable rentals. We also have put forward proposals for first-generation homebuyers to make that more affordable,” she continued.
“Mortgage rates have actually come down over the last few months. So, they’ve come down by about one and a quarter percent. That will make a difference,” Biden’s top economic adviser claimed.
“But we’re going to continue putting forward proposals and fighting to make housing more affordable, and we hope Republicans in Congress will work with us on that,” she said.
Technically true. They peaked at around 8.5 and now have settled at 7. Still ridiculously higher than before Biden.
— the truth is hard (@truthishard__) January 11, 2024
“Over the last two years, the Fed implemented a series of rate hikes that caused mortgage rates to spike further than they have in over 20 years,” CBS News reported last month. “The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in the U.S. climbed from a record-low of under 3% up to a 23-year high of 7.57%. Now that inflation has cooled, further Fed rate increases have ceased and today’s mortgage rates are holding around 7%.”
Uh not in America they haven’t
When Trump was leaving office I refinanced for 2.25%
— J Hans (@blackhawkce457) January 11, 2024
This is the essence of the Bidenomics scam. Institute policies that cause interest rates and the cost of literally everything to soar then claim success when they come down every so slightly.
— PA PATRIOT (@PAPatriot16) January 11, 2024
In addition, the buying power of the dollar has dropped 20%. The real lived experience conflicts with the propaganda coming out of the WH.
— Cash$Money (@CashMon55832121) January 12, 2024