234 Quotes by Mark Zandi

The average credit score of today’s FHA borrowers is higher than the average American household with a score. As it becomes more costly and difficult to get a FHA loan, loans from private mortgage lenders will become more attractive and their market share will grow.

Our economy isn’t going to recover until the housing market finds its footing.

There is a banking adage that if it’s growing like a weed, it’s a good chance that it’s a weed.

Buying a home wouldn’t make much sense if house prices were likely to decline further; no one wants to catch a falling knife.

The key to house prices is the share of foreclosure or short sales in the total housing market. When that share rises, house prices will fall, because distressed properties sell for significantly less – currently around 25 percent below non-distressed houses.

In a normal time, I don’t think economic policy makes a large difference one way or another. But in times of crisis it makes all the difference in the world.

It has become fashionable to rail against government intervention in the economy, and the FHA is a favorite example by those trying to show the government’s overreach. In reality, the FHA shows how government action during the Great Recession forestalled a much worse economic fate.

We need to get rid of the debt ceiling law. It’s anachronistic and it’s a problem.

Housing was ground zero for the Great Recession. Between early 2006 and Obama’s inauguration in 2009, average house prices fell by a third across the country. In certain areas, including cities as diverse as Akron, Orlando and Las Vegas, house prices fell by more than half.