Looking forward to 2018, Leonard Kiefer, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, says that tax policy reforms will be the 'wild card' affecting next year's U.S. housing market.
In a recent post, he added, "If the tax bill increases the deficit, inflation expectations may rise and put pressure on long-term interest rates including mortgage rates. A large increase in mortgage rates would significantly dampen housing market activity."
Incomes were up and job growth was strong. Mortgage rates remained low. Home sales through October were on track for the highest total in a decade, housing construction picked up, albeit slowly, and home price appreciation remained robust. And all those millennials ... finally started to move markets, forming households and buying homes at increasing rates.
