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Article: An unusual outlook. (Portfolio).(housing market)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Mortgage Banking
- Article date:
- August 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Mortgage Bankers Association of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING TO EMERGE FROM THE SHADOW OF A DEPRESSED stock market. Yet, the housing market has not even noticed there was a downturn, much less a problem with corporate accounting. Housing has been the runaway winner in a contest stacking up the best current investment choices: stocks, certificates of deposit or real estate. No contest, right?
But rates have been the key to a powerful year in home sales. Douglas Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, writes in the cover story that rates have averaged under the initial MBA forecast for 2002. Duncan estimates that mortgage rates will average about 7 percent for all of ...