The end of the Federal Reserve’s program to buy $1.25trn mortgage-backed securities should not have an adverse impact on the housing sector, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he has not been expecting the program’s end to have much effect on mortgage spreads. That view ‘seems to be bearing out,’ he said in response to an audience question after giving a speech to a business leaders’ luncheon in Hartford.

Wednesday marked the official end of the Fed’s purchase program, put in place at the height of the financial crisis to support the mortgage market.