Freddie Mac Sees Dip in Housing Starts
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U.S. housing starts and home sales  should fall short of 2004's record pace, but only slightly as  tame inflation helps sustain low long-term mortgage rates in  2005, Freddie Mac FRE.N economists said on Tuesday.  Frank Nothaft, chief economist at the No. 2 U.S. mortgage  underwriter, said housing starts should decline this year by 1  percent to 2 percent while 30-year mortgage rates are seen  increasing by no more than half a percentage point.
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U.S. housing starts plunged to a   more than three-year low in August, while falling new vehicle   costs kept producer prices unexpectedly weak, the government   said on Tuesday, bolstering views the economy is cooling.
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As U.S. home purchases slow, an  expected rise in demand for rentals will result in a spike in  inflation, analysts say, citing studies showing housing costs  have been under-reported by the government.
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Mortgage rates inched up last week, but they remained well below the year-high levels set during the spring. Freddie Mac, in its weekly survey released Thursday, reported that rates on 30-year
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Forecasters expect the median price of  U.S. homes to fall between 1 percent and 2 percent this year in  what would be the first such decline since 1950, when federal  agencies began tracking such statistics, the New York Times  reported on Sunday.
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Housing starts nationwide sank to a 14-year low last month as concern grew about the effects the faltering industry could have on the U.S. economy.
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Mortgage rates increased this week for the first time in a month, while holding close to the lowest since early April, according to Freddie Mac.
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Government-sponsored lender Freddie Mac said Monday that it will restructure some of its mortgage securities operations, primarily by ceasing the market-making activities of its Securities
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WASHINGTON -- Freddie Mac, the nation's second-largest buyer and guarantor of home mortgages, said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell 45 percent as it had to record larger provisions on its books for bad loans.
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Freddie Mac yesterday reported that its second-quarter profit fell by nearly half, in part because it set aside more money to cover expected losses from defaults on mortgages.
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Freddie Mac FRE.N, the  second-largest U.S. home financing company which has endured a  barrage of intense public scrutiny in over the past year, on  Friday revised its 2003 net income down by $75 million to cover  a reserve for legal expenses, according to its annual report.
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Business & money: Housing market slows as mortgage approvals fall.
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Ground-breaking on new U.S. homes last month fell to the slowest pace since 1991 and fewer building permits were issued than any time since 1993, according to government data released Thursday that points to a deepening housing crisis and heightened risk of recession.
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MCLEAN, Va. -- Mortgage rates have eased with help from last week&#39;s disappointing government numbers on new jobs. The mortgage company Freddie Mac reports that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages now average 5.74 percent, down from 5.82 in last week&#39;s survey.
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It started with subprime mortgages. Now owners of McMansions are defaulting, and the effects of the housing bust are beginning to ripple through the economy.
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Investor's Business Daily - The average 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.31% vs. 6.46% the week prior, while average 15-year rates dipped to 5.97% from 6.31%. One-year ARMs fell to 5.66% from 5.74%, Freddie Mac said. The government-sponsored lender said the dip could &quot;give some relief&quot; to borrowers looking to refinance loans or buy a home.
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As U.S. home purchases slow, an expected rise in demand for rentals will result in a spike in inflation, analysts say, citing studies showing housing costs have been under-reported by the government.