Freddie: 2015 to Mark Best Year for Home Sales

Expect 2015 to be the best year for home sales and new home construction since 2007 when total home sales were about 5.8 million for the year.

Palm Coast, FL – March 13, 2015 – Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) released Wednesday its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for March, highlighting some of the positive tailwinds at the start of the spring homebuying season.

Outlook Highlights

• Expect 2015 to be the best year for home sales and new home construction since 2007 when total home sales were about 5.8 million for the year.
• Improved job prospects have started to drive those aged 25-34 back to the labor force, with 76.8 percent employed as of last month, up from 75.9 percent last year.
• Expect rising rents at or above inflation in 2015 to push more would-be homeowners into the market. Rents increased an average of 3.6 percent in 2014 and nearly 11 percent over the last three years.
• Due to some recent upward pressure on Treasury bond yields, the 2015 forecast for the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was increased slightly to at 4.0 percent for the year.

"This month kicks off the spring homebuying season. Between now and the end of June, we'll see about 40 percent of all home sales for the year. So these next few months will essentially tell us whether or not 2015 will be a good or bad year for housing markets. Overall, we're feeling good about housing and we expect this year to be the best year for home sales and new home construction since 2007 when we saw total home sales about 5.8 million for the year," said Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist, Freddie Mac.