> The Fed resumed purchasing massive amounts of debt securities, a key tool it employed during the Great Recession. Responding to the acute dysfunction of the Treasury and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) markets after the outbreak of COVID-19, the Fed’s actions initially aimed to restore smooth functioning to these markets, which play a critical role in the flow of credit to the broader economy as benchmarks and sources of liquidity. On March 15, 2020, the Fed shifted the objective of QE to supporting the economy. It said that it would buy at least $500 billion in Treasury securities and $200 billion in government-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities over “the coming months.” On March 23, 2020, it made the purchases open-ended, saying it would buy securities “in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions,” expanding the stated purpose of the bond buying to include bolstering the economy. In June 2020, the Fed set its rate of purchases to at least $80 billion a month in Treasuries and $40 billion in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities until further notice. The Fed updated its guidance in December 2020 to indicate it would slow these purchases once the economy had made “substantial further progress” toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability. In November 2021, judging that test had been met, the Fed began tapering its pace of asset purchases by $10 billion in Treasuries and $5 billion in MBS each month. At the subsequent FOMC meeting in December 2021, the Fed doubled its speed of tapering, reducing its bond purchases by $20 billion in Treasuries and $10 billion in MBS each month.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/fed-response-to-covid19/
https://www.axios.com/2023/12/09/mortage-rates-housing-marke...