Freddie Mac June 2014 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook
June 18 2014 - 1:38PM
Marketwired
Freddie Mac June 2014 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook
2014: A Mid-Year Assessment
MCLEAN, VA--(Marketwired - Jun 18, 2014) - Freddie Mac (OTCQB:
FMCC) released today its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook
for June providing a mid-year assessment as well as how for-sale
inventory and vacancy rates will affect the near-term outlook. The
complete June 2014 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook and
forecast table are available here.
Outlook Highlights
- Low for-sale inventory will help to sustain house price and
rent gains but at the expense of affordability in the short
term.
- While the total number of vacant units has decreased by 4.2
percent from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of
2014, the number of vacant units for sale has declined by 24.2
percent (485,000 units).
- Home purchase applications have picked up a bit recently with
the traditional homebuying season underway, yet they're still
currently 13 percent below last year. For this reason, we're
lowering our overall homes sales forecast from 5.5 million to 5.4
million.
- We expect fixed rates to rise gradually during the second half
of the year in part as a result of the Federal Reserve's "tapering"
of net mortgage-backed securities acquisitions. Expect the 30-year
fixed-rate mortgage to gradually rise higher, ending the year
around 4.4 percent.
Quote Attributed to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president
and chief economist.
"We're nearly half way through the year and single-family
housing remains weaker than we projected six months ago, while
multifamily appears to be right on track. With vacancy rates moving
back in line with historical averages, even falling below
historical averages in some markets, and for-sale inventories
remaining tight, U.S. home price indexes are likely to continue
their above-inflation growth for the remainder of the year, as will
rent gains, albeit much slower than in 2013. The important question
is how much further will prices and rents have to rise to give
incentives for more existing owners to list their property for sale
and developers bring more supply to the market. Construction has
rebounded over the past two years but is still significantly below
the levels one would expect to see given projections of household
formations."
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide
liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential
mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the
nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac
is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one
of the largest sources of financing for multifamily
housing. Additional information is available at
FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac's blog
FreddieMac.com/blog.
Federal Home Loan Mortgage (QB) (USOTC:FMCC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Federal Home Loan Mortgage (QB) (USOTC:FMCC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024