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CFPB sues Capital One, claiming bank avoided paying $2B in interest
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued Capital One and its McLean holding company, Capital One Financial, alleging the companies cheated millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments, the federal agency announced Tuesday. Capital One, the CFPB alleges, promised customers that its flagship 360 Savings account provided one of the […]
Banking and finance experts optimistic but cautious regarding new administration’s impact
The banking and finance industry could see gains under the incoming federal administration, those in the field say, with President-elect Donald Trump‘s proposed plans of a lower-interest-rate environment coupled with lighter regulatory oversight on the horizon. They also note, however, that many proposals may never come to fruition or take some time before their impacts […]
Barkin: Still a waiting game for interest rates’ effect on inflation
The U.S. economy has yet to feel the effects of current interest rates, but it eventually will, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin predicted Thursday during an event held by the Risk Management Association’s Richmond chapter in the city’s East End. “I’m optimistic that we’ve gotten rates at a restrictive level […]
Va. housing market dampens in March
The pace of sales in Virginia’s housing market slowed in March, declining 7.3% over March 2023, according to data released by Virginia Realtors Tuesday. In March, there were 8,075 home sales in the commonwealth, 634 fewer sales than this time last year. At the end of the month, there were 14,950 homes on the market, […]
House of cards
Working as a mortgage lender in Roanoke for the past 18 years, Jason Bialek experienced everything from the financial crash of 2008 to the historic spike in home sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following that bonanza in 2020, though, Bialek and others in the residential real estate industry will probably look back at this period […]
Construction firms expect mixed bag for 2024, survey says
Construction firms are expecting a mixed bag for 2024, according to results of a survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate, released Thursday. Challenges facing the construction industry include labor shortages, higher interest rates and input costs and a still-struggling supply chain. In Virginia, about 31 firms […]
Barkin: Raising interest rates is correct course
As inflation remains high and the fallout from recent bank failures seems contained, the Federal Reserve Bank has good reason to continue raising interest rates, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin said Thursday in a speech to the Virginia Council of CEOs at the University of Richmond. “It is worth remembering that not […]
Barkin: Inflation improving but not yet low enough
With inflation decreasing but still not at its 2% target, the Federal Reserve still needs “to stay on the case,” Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin said Thursday at a conference hosted in Richmond by the Virginia Bankers Association and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Inflation continued to slow in December […]
Fed’s Fifth District economy expands slightly
The economy in the Federal Reserve‘s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) has expanded slightly since October, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday. Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions g[...]
Mortgage rates above 7% shock volatile housing market
Charlottesville Realtor Denise Ramey has a client who put in multiple bids for houses over the summer, when the market was booming, but they were all turned down. Now, with mortgage rates topping 7% for the first time in more than 20 years, he’s not sure if he will buy a house at all — […]
Keeping watch
The question of the quarter: Are we entering a recession? One key indicator of a future recession can be inflation, which hit a 40-year high this year. Between June 2021 and June 2022, the consumer price index increased by 9.1%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the first tangible signs for […]
Barkin: Inflation high, but Fed has tools to contain it
Tom Barkin agrees — inflation is too high. But he also says the Fed has the authority to get it back on the right track. That’s what the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond told the Richmond chapter of the Risk Management Association on Tuesday at Triple Crossing Beer, a brewery […]
