The housing market should stabilize by the end of the year if the Federal Reserve backs off on interest rate hikes, said the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders Tuesday.
In his midyear forecast for NAHB, Chief Economist David Seiders said stabilizing mortgage rates ? which have been climbing steadily in small increments and now stand at 6.79 percent ? will stabilize the housing market. But he cautioned that the forecast is tied to the Fed.
Seiders urged the Fed to take a pause on interest rate hikes, saying triggering further mortgage rate increases could shut out would-be buyers. The Fed has raised the rate 17 times in a row in an attempt to cool inflation, but the consensus on Wall Street is they may pause soon. If the Fed does halt the hikes, the NAHB?s forecast ? along with those of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ? has the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage leveling off at 6.8 percent by the end of the year.
