Who knew when reading Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities in high school or college that parts of this classic text were prophetic regarding the impact of the 2020 COVID pandemic? Just as with the Tale of Two Cities, some people are better off (economically speaking) while others are financially devasted. “It was the best …Read more
December 2020 monthly forecasts from Fannie Mae and the MBA show they continue to disagree on where home sales and residential lending volumes are trending for 2021. The divergence is a function of differing expectations regarding interest rates. Interest Rates Interest rates have a profound and material impact on housing affordability. The U.S. hit an …Read more
The latest monthly forecasts from Fannie Mae and the MBA show that the only thing the two agree on is not to agree in 2021 for either interest rates or existing home sales. Each provides a monthly prognosis on the residential housing sector including homes sales, prices, interest rates and lending. Interest Rates Interest rates …Read more
The increased amount of time we are spending at home makes the residence more intrinsically valuable than at any time in people’s lives today. Coupled with record-low interest rates, new and existing home sales and refinance lending volumes continue to grow – with total residential lending now forecast by Fannie Mae to hit a record …Read more
Have been wanting to use the words Smoking Hot regarding real estate since the last downturn in 2008, and finally have a reason: August 2020 new home sales! New home sales came in at a blistering 1.011 million units in August on seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR), up a massive 43.2 percent from the prior …Read more
Record-low interest rates continue to drive home sales and refinance lending volumes – perhaps two of the brightest spots of the U.S. economy today. Following is a summary of the September 2020 forecasts from Fannie Mae and the MBA for interest rates, existing and new-home sales and residential lending. Freddie Mac forecasts these also, but …Read more
As the pandemic progresses, it appears more evident that the housing sector is providing buoyancy to the U.S. economy as record low interest rates drive housing demand and reduce monthly payments for millions of households able to refinance their home mortgages. Following is a summary of the latest August 2020 forecasts from Fannie Mae and …Read more
Each month Fannie Mae and the MBA forecast interest rates, existing and new-home sales and residential lending. Freddie Mac forecasts these also, but only on a quarterly basis. The following includes only the expectations of the monthly releases from Fannie Mae and the MBA as of July 2020. Given the economic environment, the Fannie-MBA outlook …Read more
New home sales picked up the pace growing by double digits percentage wise in May 2020, as the demand for clean, safe and never-lived in housing rose. Sales came in at 676,000 dwelling units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) according to the U.S. Census Bureau, up 16.6 percent from the revised 580,000 in …Read more
Each month Fannie Mae and the MBA forecast interest rates, residential lending, and both existing and new home sales. Freddie Mac does a quarterly forecast covering lending, interest rates and total home sales – existing plus new. The following tables summarize the latest forecasts as of June 2020. Interest Rates Differing expectations of interest rates …Read more