The April Economic and Housing Outlook report from Fannie Mae paints a steady picture of an economy the GSE expects to give no big surprises. The combination of potential political unrest home and abroad and a smoothly growing housing market are keeping the GSE’s predictions on the safe side. Still, housing is a significant bright spot this year.

A new study by Trulia shows that while doctors can still afford most markets, teachers, first responders, and restaurant workers are getting increasingly shut out of markets where they work. Availability for solid, even above-median earners in coastal California is especially low. However, even there, some pockets of affordability exist.

While the unemployment rate dropped in march, so did the number of jobs created in a month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded the fewest new jobs created in nearly a year last month. But some experts believe winter weather could have just created a temporary blip.

The Fair Housing act was supposed to level the playing field for American minority groups nearly 50 years ago. While segregation and homeownership among blacks and Latinos has improved in some areas, age-old issues still linger. And it’s been especially rough since the recession.

Fannie Mae looked into the efficacy of early education for borrowers and buyers and found underwhelming results. While buyers, agents, and lenders like the programs in theory, the reality is that all see the programs as cumbersome. The GSE recommended retooling the programs, but not abandoning them.

With nearly $5 trillion available to borrowers, the equity economy is at an 11-year high, according to a new report by Black Knight. Fewer borrowers are underwater on the heels of a strengthening appreciation market, and refis are nearly half of all new loans. More than two-thirds of tappable equity is in the hands of borrowers with low-rate mortgages.

The flipside of the sellers-market economy of 2017 is that sellers looking to buy a new home are running into the same problems as all other buyers. A new study by Redfin shows that two-thirds of sellers are worried about finding a new property once they sell. And low inventories are reeling from the increasing speed of sales.

The latest look at existing home sales by Ten-X anticipates a bump in home sales and prices. The firm’s Nowcast model projects March existing home sales of 5.6 million units and a median sale price of $232,55. But inventory, especially for starter homes, remains tight everywhere.

Major metros could be especially vulnerable to rising interest rates, according to a new study by Pro Teck. San Francisco could see a 10 percent drop in home prices if rate rises more aggressively than predicted. Meanwhile, inventory in top-selling metros remains tight.

The plans are ambitious. According to FHFA’s update report on Release 2, the agency has two main objectives in undertaking the UMBS initiative. The first is to establish a single, liquid market for the mortgage-backed securities issued by both GSEs that are backed by fixed-rate loans. The second is to maintain the liquidity of the that market over time.