GSEs

“In 2023, Freddie Mac Multifamily was proud to again surpass our ambitious affordable housing goals, despite significant headwinds facing the overall market,” said Kevin Palmer, Head of Multifamily for Freddie Mac.

As mortgage rates dropped toward levels last reported in May 2023, the MBA reported a rise in purchase application activity, led by both Conventional and FHA purchase apps.

The annual National Property Preservation Conference once again brought together a cross-section of field services vendors, mortgage servicing professionals, and representatives of government agencies and the GSEs to “discuss pressing issues and develop solutions.”

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae SVP and Chief Economist, forecasts positive things for 2024. But here’s why rates “still have a significant way to go in order to meaningfully reduce the ‘lock-in effect.’”

"In the current supply-constrained housing market, any changes to the fundamentals of affordability are going to affect demand, and we saw this in the fourth quarter with interest rates peaking near 8% and helping further slow home price growth," said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae SVP and Chief Economist.

“Credit availability declined in December to the lowest level since 2012, as ongoing industry consolidation is resulting in more loan programs being removed from the marketplace,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s VP and Deputy Chief Economist.

Freddie Mac reports a slight one basis-point rise in the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to begin 2024, with rates moving sideways as the market digests incoming economic data for the new year. Here’s what they expect for the months ahead.

Pending home sales in November remained the same as October 2023's report, however NAR expects that to change as the downward trend in mortgage rates is expected to shift home sales upward to close out 2023.

Mortgage rates continue to drop to close out 2023, a positive turn of events for potential buyers after 17 consecutive weeks with rates above the 7% mark.

“Last week’s comments by Chairman Powell, as well as the Federal Reserve’s updated Summary of Economic Projections, suggest increased Fed confidence that a soft landing has been achieved and inflation is headed sustainably to 2%,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s SVP and Chief Economist.