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Fed Holds Rates Steady as CD Yields Rise to 4.45%

8/4/2026

37 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Fed Holds Rates

The Federal Reserve (Fed) committee voted 9-3 to keep interest rates steady.
Median CD rate rose to 3.25%, up 0.9 percentage points in six months.
Southland Credit Union offered a 9% APY nine-month CD for its 90th anniversary.
Curinos reported the highest CD yields at 4.45% APY on Morgan Stanley’s 4- and 5-year CDs as of Aug. 3, 2026, with two-year CD rates ranging from about 4.10% to 4.30% APY.

Summary

Homeowners Face Rates

The average 30-year fixed refinance rate is 6.830%, per the Mortgage Resource Center.
Closing costs on a $300,000 refinance usually range from $6,000 to $18,000 and cover origination, appraisal and title fees.
Guidelines advise refinancing only when the new rate is at least one percentage point lower than the current loan, while the Federal Reserve’s 2025 cut and the March 2026 geopolitical spike have kept rates near 7%, limiting activity.

History

Historical Context

Facing 1970s stagflation, Paul Volcker became Fed chair in 1979 and drove the federal-funds rate to a historic 20 % by June 1981, spurring a recession and unemployment above 10 % in 1983. The tight-money stance, backed by Ronald Reagan’s fiscal expansion, reshaped credit markets; today the Fed’s steady policy yields CDs near 4.5 % and 30-year mortgages around 6.8 %.

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Fed Holds Rates

The Federal Reserve (Fed) committee voted 9-3 to keep interest rates steady.
Median CD rate rose to 3.25%, up 0.9 percentage points in six months.
Southland Credit Union offered a 9% APY nine-month CD for its 90th anniversary.
Curinos reported the highest CD yields at 4.45% APY on Morgan Stanley’s 4- and 5-year CDs as of Aug. 3, 2026, with two-year CD rates ranging from about 4.10% to 4.30% APY.

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