Why Falling Home Prices Won't Sway the Fed

Many investors are focusing most of their attention on the Federal Reserve, which started a two-day meeting today, at which the central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates yet again. Economists were watching for the latest reading on home prices to get a sense of whether the Fed might choose to become less aggressive with its monetary policy moves, and the numbers were as weak as stock market bulls had hoped. S&P Dow Jones Indices released the latest readings on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which measure home prices across major U.S. real estate markets.