Word: mortgagee
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They're certainly not stocking it with stocks. Indeed, the main factor in housing's continued strength is a classic economic example of zero-sum boom: the persistent weakness everywhere else. As the 2003 recovery continues to be more forecast than reality and Wall Street continues to wobble, mortgage rates...
"Market concerns over weak economic indicators and an increased risk of war in the Middle East pushed mortgage rates lower," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac (which, unsurprisingly, posted a 25 percent increase in net income in Q4). "That and falling stock prices raised investor...
"Last month, mortgage rates averaged the lowest on record in Freddie Mac's survey, which spurred a flood of new housing construction, the most since June 1986," Nothaft added. "If mortgage rates continue to be this low, 2003 should be a remarkable year for housing."
Though probably not as remarkable as 2002. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America's report last week of a 6.1 percent dropoff in their index of mortgage and refinancing activity for the week ended Jan. 17, even as mortgage rates continued to fall, suggests that last year's "refi" boom...
"The momentum gained from low mortgage interest rates will carry strong home sales into 2003, with an improving economy offsetting modestly higher mortgage interest rates as the year progresses," said David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Lereah forecasts GDP growth of between 2.7 percent and 3.1...