Mark Palim

Mark Palim is Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, responsible for forecasts and analyses of the economy and the housing and mortgage markets. He leads the Economic and Strategic Research Group, which has won the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy and, on two occasions, the NABE Outlook Award. Mark also oversees strategic research on the potential impact of external factors on the housing industry, and he initiated the company’s first work on climate change and its effect on the housing industry. He is a key spokesperson on economic trends and a frequent speaker at national mortgage finance and housing industry events.

Prior to working at Fannie Mae, Mark was an economic consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at LECG, focused on applying economic and financial theory to business disputes and policy questions. He was a consultant and testifying expert in antitrust cases and disputes in the financial services industry. He also led a team of 75 adjudicators charged with valuing claims for the Department of Justice and the Special Master, administering the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Mark began working with economic forecasting and mortgage securities in 1988 as a portfolio manager, reporting to the chief economist at Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company, followed by work on macroeconomic and policy issues as a staff economist for the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU).

Currently, Mark serves on Habitat for Humanity's Affordable Housing and Homeownership Research Advisory Council as well as the Industry Advisory Board of Research Institute for Housing America. From 2019 to 2022, Mark served on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics.

In addition to his academic training, Mark is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charter holder.

Mark has a B.A. in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.

Mark’s research has been published in peer-reviewed economic journals and professional handbooks.