Fannie Mae Holds 2019 Forecast Steady at 2.2 Percent Growth and One Fed Rate Hike

But the Fed's Dovish Shift Is Expected to Help Housing and Broader Economic Conditions

Matthew Classick

202-752-3662

WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group in its February forecast update is maintaining its prediction for 2.2 percent full-year growth in 2019, down from 3.1 percent in 2018. A smaller boost from previously enacted federal fiscal policies, moderating business investment growth, and a widening of the trade deficit were listed as key drivers behind the expected year-over-year decrease in headline growth. Slowing global economic growth and trade uncertainty remain downside risks. Federal Reserve “patience” has led to easing financial conditions, while the expanding labor pool suggests minimal wage pressures, which together serve as potential growth offsets to the opposite direction.

The ESR Group’s housing and mortgage finance forecast calls for total home sales in 2019 to be essentially flat from 2018.  Decelerating house price appreciation plus a slowdown in interest rate increases should provide some support for sales after the decline of last year.

Growth for the first quarter of 2019 was revised downward from the previous forecast by one-tenth to 1.7 percent, due to expectations of a slight slowdown in consumer spending on degraded consumer sentiment. The ESR Group expects that any impact on growth from the partial government shutdown will be mostly recouped by the end of the first quarter. The dovish tone of the Fed’s most recent statement and its removal of forward guidance on interest rates, with no evidence of accelerating inflation, support the ESR Group’s expectation for a single mid-year rate hike in 2019.

“We reduced first quarter growth expectation slightly, but our forecast for full-year 2019 growth remains unchanged” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “The labor market is strong, unemployment is at a very low level historically, and wages are rising modestly, enticing workers to come off the sidelines. We continue to expect only one rate hike this year as markets applauded the pause in monetary tightening by the Fed. Uncertainty regarding terms of trade remains a downside risk, as does slowing global economic growth.”

“On housing, a reduction in our forecast of existing home sales has our team projecting fewer 2019 purchase mortgage originations,” Duncan continued. “However, falling – or at least not rising – interest rates, strong employment, continued wage growth, and a deceleration in home price appreciation should support more favorable homebuying conditions heading into the spring, along with improved affordability.”

Visit the Economic & Strategic Research site at www.fanniemae.com to read the full February 2019 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.

Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae's business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.