Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have both lowered forecasts for the U.S. housing market in 2014, coming off a slow first quarter for the market.
On Monday, Fannie Mae cut its housing-starts expectations 50,000 units to approximately 1.05 million units in 2014 (see the Fannie Mae press release).
“We have downgraded our housing forecast slightly due to a lackluster sales picture, but the recent loss of momentum is likely a temporary one,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. "While existing home sales have remained essentially flat, we continue to believe that new home sales will increase at a double-digit pace.”
Last Friday, Freddie Mac cut its 2014 home sales forecast from an initial estimate of 5.6 million to 5.5 million.
(more on Freddie/Fannie housing-outlook downgrades . . . )