Freddie Mac Economist Sees Improvement in 2007

The housing correction is about two-thirds finished,
By: Vinnee Tong: REALTOR® Magazine Online
The housing correction is about two-thirds finished, but the market will hit a trough in the first half of 2007, predicts Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, speaking at the 10th annual Home Building Conference, sponsored by the New York Society of Security Analysts.

"We're most of the way there," he says. "We've still got a bit of decline going forward. I do think by the second half of 2007 we will see home sales and activity picking up, not back to 2004 and 2005 levels, but above the trough."

Nothaft predicts average home prices across the United States will appreciate by 3 percent in 2007.

Lennar Corp. Chief Financial Officer Bruce Gross says the slowdown wasn’t all bad because it offered developers a chance to make operations leaner.

"In good times, we were all busy growing," Gross says. "As things slow down, we can focus on efficiencies."