40 Quotes by Frank Nothaft

With mortgage rates low and consumer confidence high, Freddie Mac economists expect the housing market to remain strong in the months ahead.

Over the last couple of years, we've seen many markets with strong home value appreciation. They're up at a considerable pace in many markets across the country, particularly from New England all the way down to Washington, D.C., ... Home values are up in D.C., for example, by over 10 percent over the past year. That means families have built up home equity.

Long-term mortgage rates will more than likely rise over the next few months, albeit modestly compared to shorter-term rates.

With the unemployment rate at a low of 4.3 percent and mortgage rates remaining at present affordable levels, we expect the housing market to continue to be strong into the coming months.

Today's annual average mortgage rates are below even that projection thanks to the spring 'soft-patch' in economic growth.

With productivity up and inflationary pressures muted, the Federal Reserve Board elected this week not to change a key short-term interest rate. Moreover, most other economic data releases, such as unemployment and manufacturing, painted a slightly negative picture for future economic growth. These factors combined to keep mortgage rates stable.

Financial markets are feeling more confident that the Fed will not raise rates any time soon. Add to that the fact that recent economic data shows core inflation is less than the market expects, and we see mortgage rates drop once again.

Both existing home sales in June and housing starts in July took a breather, dropping to somewhat more sustainable levels of activity,

Bond yields have been creeping up on an almost daily basis since the beginning of October, pushing mortgage rates up as they go, ... Inflation remains low, however, and we expect that to continue into 2004 and beyond. And as long as it does, we won't see mortgage rates rising very dramatically.