Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and three other Democratic lawmakers are pushing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates at the upcoming Fed meeting to make housing more affordable. “As the Fed weighs its next steps in the new year, we urge you to consider the effects of your interest rate decisions on the housing market,” the senators wrote in a letter to Powell Sunday. “The direct effect of these astronomical rates has been a significant increase in the overall home purchasing cost to the average consumer,” the letter said. Expensive housing costs have contributed to lagging public sentiment ... (full story)