First-responder Credit Union Newsroom

NEW YORK — The U.S. housing market could experience its weakest year in more than a decade as elevated mortgage rates suppress sales and keep home prices nearly flat, according to a Capital Economic s forecast. Capital Economics expects annual home sales to fall to about 4.7 million by the end of 2026, which would represent the slowest pace since 2011. After a modest recovery in 2025, homebuying activity has weakened this year as borrowing costs have increased amid renewed inflation concerns and expectations for higher Federal Reserve interest rates. “Strengthening economic growth will not provide much of a lift to the housing market, which we expect to remain in its structural malaise,” Capital Economics economists wrote, according to Business Insider. Mortgage Rates to Remain Above 6% Capital Economics expects mortgage rates to remain above 6% for at least two more years, continuing to constrain affordability and discourage homeowners with lower-rate mortgages from selling. The aver...

WASHINGTON—Reps. Janelle Bynum (D-OR) and Young Kim (R-CA) introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday that would significantly broaden the investments available to federal credit unions, including giving them new authority to invest in corporate debt and asset-backed securities. Young Kim The Credit Union Investment Authority Act would amend the Federal Credit Union Act to expand federal credit unions’ investment authority. Under the bill, federal credit unions could invest in marketable debt obligations issued by companies and other organizations that are not limited to serving credit unions. The legislation would cap a credit union’s investment in the obligations of any single issuer at 10% of its paid-in unimpaired capital and surplus. The measure would also expressly authorize investments in asset-backed securities as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Kathleen Coulombe The bill would require the NCUA board to issue implementing regulations within one year of enactm...

    A core measure of a nation's total economic activity, gross domestic product represents the value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given year. Economists can calculate a country's aggregate economic activity by adding together its total consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net exports. As of June 2026, the US' inflation-adjusted GDP was about $24.2T. > The three different ways to calculate GDP. ( More ) > How "nominal" GDP differs from "real" GDP. ( More ) Since the concept was popularized by Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets in the 1930s, GDP has become one of the most important economic indicators in both domest...

Liquidity Resources Liquidity is a credit union’s capacity to meet its cash and collateral obligations at a reasonable cost. Adequate liquidity is necessary to efficiently meet both expected and unexpected cash flows and collateral needs without compromising the credit union’s daily operations or financial condition. Effective credit union management identifies, measures, monitors, and controls exposure to liquidity risk. Primary Risks In managing expected cash flows, a credit union may experience situations that increase its liquidity risk. These situations include mismatches between sources and uses of funds, market constraints on the ability to convert assets into cash or to access sources of funds (market liquidity), and contingent liquidity events. Changes in economic conditions or exposure to credit, market, operational, legal, and also can affect an institution’s liquidity risk profile. None of these risks are mutually exclusive, and interrelated risks may contribute to increase...