MBA: Slow economic growth continues in 2008MortgagePress.commortgage originations, economic activity, credit crisis, recession
Lower levels of mortgage originations in 2008 and
2009
The Mortgage Bankers
Association projects that economic growth will continue to slow
through the first half of 2008, but expects economic activity will
begin to pick up in the second half of 2008 and resume trend-like
growth toward the end of 2009. Total mortgage production will be
down 16 percent to $1.96 trillion this year from a projected $2.34
trillion in 2007. Total originations should see a further drop of
four percent in 2009 to $1.88 trillion.
"The principal concern of the current credit crisis lies in the
possibility that banks will eventually run out of capital. Banks
are running up against capital limits as they write down the value
of assets; at the same time, they are putting loans on their
balance sheets because the markets for securitized products are
essentially closed," said Doug Duncan, MBA's chief economist and
senior vice president for research and business development.
"Fortunately, the banking system entered the current credit crunch
well-capitalized, so the danger of a sharp and widespread
contraction of credit availability does not seem imminent. The
recovery period in financial markets may take longer this time than
it has in past financial crises, but a turn for the better still
appears to be a good bet later in the year."
"Employment growth has slowed significantly from the pace early
in 2007, with the December data reporting a decline in private
sector payrolls. High gasoline and food prices are siphoning off
purchasing power. Home prices are falling and will likely continue
to decline," said Duncan. "The case for avoiding recession,
however, is still a plausible one. We expect housing starts to hit
bottom before the end of 2008. Since they have already fallen
nearly 50 percent from peak levels, the drag on GDP [gross domestic
product] growth will diminish as the year goes on. Net exports,
meanwhile, should continue to increase in response to relatively
strong growth abroad and the impact of past declines in the dollar
on our competitive position in world markets."
"Core inflation has also crept up a bit, from a year-over-year
increase of 1.9 percent a few months ago, to 2.2 percent in
November," continued Duncan. "These recent increases in inflation
may prove to be temporary. Oil prices may be stabilizing at between
$90 and $100 a barrel; food prices may continue to rise but not by
more than the five percent year-over-year increase presently
underway; [and] core inflation may subside a bit as the economy
slows. Even if these assumptions do not prove valid and inflation
picks up a bit further, the Fed [Federal Reserve System] should be
able to take countervailing actions later on to bring inflation
back down to desired levels without undue difficulty."
Duncan continued, "Over the 12 months that ended in November,
consumer spending adjusted for inflation rose three percent,
exceeding, by a significant margin, the 2.1 percent increase in
real after-tax incomes. Our expectation is that consumer spending
growth next year will slow, but spending should still increase by
about two percent over the four quarters of next year."
Duncan expects the Fed to say less about inflation in the next
few FOMC statements and more about the need to do what is necessary
and possible to keep the economy away from the brink of
recession.
"The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage yield should trend up only
modestly higher over the second half of the year, reaching 6.2
percent by the fourth quarter and edging up just slightly through
2009. Thus, interest rates will still be quite low by historical
standards," said Duncan.
The following are the key points of the latest MBA forecast:
•We expect housing starts and home sales to continue to
trend down and reach bottom around the end of the third quarter of
2008.
•Total existing home sales for 2008 will decline by about 13
percent from 2007 to 4.94 million units. Sales will pick up by
about four percent in 2009.
•New home sales will decline by about 15 percent in 2008,
from 2007, to 666,000 units. We expect sales to increase about
seven percent in 2009.
•Median home prices for new and existing homes are expected
to decline this year, with nominal median prices falling about two
percent. Prices should increase by between one and two percent in
2009.
•Residential purchase mortgage originations will decline by
about 18 percent in 2008 to $955 billion from a projected $1.16
trillion in 2007. Given a recovery in sales and prices in 2009,
purchase originations should be up by five percent to one trillion
in 2009.
•The yield on 10-year Treasuries notes, the benchmark for
fixed-rate mortgage yields, are projected to decline in the current
quarter as the Fed is expected to continue with its easing.
However, we do not expect the large pick-up in refinance activity
as we normally would for several reasons. First, lending standards
have been tightened significantly. Second, the spread between the
10-year Treasury note yield and conforming mortgage rates, as well
as the spread between conforming mortgage rates and jumbo rates,
has widened. Third, home prices have declined in many areas. These
factors have combined to discourage some refinance activity,
especially in areas with relatively high shares of jumbo loans and
falling home prices. Thus, we project that refinance originations
will decline about 14 percent to $1.01 trillion in 2008 from a
projected $1.17 trillion in 2007. Refinance activity will decline
by another 13 percent to $883 billion in 2009 from 2008.
•Total mortgage production will be down 16 percent to $1.96
trillion this year from a projected $2.34 trillion in 2007. This
would mark the first time since 2000 that total mortgage
originations fell below $2 trillion.
•Total originations should see another drop of four percent
in 2009 to $1.88 trillion.
For more information, visit www.mortgagebankers.org.
