Fortunately Fannie Mae and the MBA release monthly forecasts for residential lending volumes, new and existing home sales and interest rates. They do not, however, look through the same glasses when prognosticating the future, however. Core to housing and residential lending are interest rates that remained below 2.9 percent once again this week according to …Read more
Axioms are truths. If there is ever one complete truth it is that not everyone sees the future equally, nor do they consistently perceive the present. Proof in the statement takes only a glance at the latest forecast for residential interest rates from Fannie Mae and the MBA (F&M). As shown in the table, not …Read more
Homebuilders face a trifecta of impediments – not winnings – with new home construction being hindered by shortages of workers, materials (including appliances, fixtures, HVAC and even hot-water tanks) and developed residential building lots. As a result, May new home sales slid for the second month in a row sequentially from the prior month using …Read more
While forecasts from truly respected institutions are valued, unfortunately there is not always agreement from the various parties. The following summarizes monthly forecasts from Fannie Mae and the MBA. A critical foundation component for forecasting housing and residential lending is interest rates. Right out of the chute, Fannie Mae and the MBA see differing outcomes …Read more
As new home sales prices inflated to a record high – with the median price in April 2021 at $372,400, up 12.6 percent from the prior month and up 20.2 percent year-over-year, the air was let out of the number of sales which dropped 5.9 percent from the prior month according to the latest data …Read more
Fannie Mae and the MBA continued to tweak their monthly forecasts for 2021 and 2022 in the U.S. residential housing and lending markets. The two still diverge on where interest rates are heading. In their May 2021 forecast, Fannie Mae now believes that the conventional, fixed-rate 30-year residential mortgage rate is going to dip slightly …Read more
In the dark and clouds, airplane pilots need to know where they are heading. Fortunately flight instruments lead the way. The same is true in residential markets with monthly updated forecasts by Fannie Mae and the MBA so market professionals do not have to fly blind across the economic landscape. Each month Fannie Mae and …Read more
Each month Fannie Mae and the MBA release forecasts (both quarterly and annual) for housing and related lending. This summarizes their latest outlook as of March 2021. Interest Rates Not only do Fannie Mae and the MBA disagree on where interest rates are heading, they even see different average rates last year in 2020. Fannie …Read more
New home sales rose an estimated 19.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) in January 2021 compared to one-year ago, and were up 4.3 percent sequentially from December 2020 according to the United States Census Bureau. Total sales in January 2021 on a SAAR were an estimated 923,000. Median new home price in …Read more
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