Americans can expect “home sales to be the best since 2007,” says Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for April.
Because of the cold winter, forecasts for housing starts of 1.18 million in 2015 was lowered this month to 1.15 million. But pent up demand from the chilly first quarter should be expected, leaving the forecast for total home sales of 5.6 million homes for this year unchanged.
"As in recent years past, we entered the year with great expectations and optimism for the year ahead. The first quarter, once again, defied those expectations, bringing a brutal winter and a slowdown in economic activity,” said Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac.
“However, we also remain optimistic about trends in housing markets moving forward for the remainder of the year with mortgage rates low, purchase applications up and pending home sales on a positive upward trend," he adds.
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