Housing and Economic Research
Original research and analysis on housing trends, the economy and the mortgage market
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Research Note | September 20, 2021
Racial and Ethnic Valuation Gaps In Home Purchase Appraisals
To follow up on several stories of potential appraisal bias in various news outlets, Freddie Mac kicked off a study of whether minorities are more likely to receive an appraisal value that is lower than the contract price during purchase transactions. More
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Research Note | August 26, 2021
The Growth of Sole-person Households: Creating Even More Demand for Smaller, More Affordable Homes
One of the key changes in household composition is the increase in sole-person households. In the past 40 years, sole-person households have almost doubled in the United States. More
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Forecast | July 15, 2021
Quarterly Forecast: Housing Market Expected to Remain Strong Despite Major Supply Shortage and Historically High House Prices Across the U.S. Slowing Sales
The latest employment report from the U.S. Labor Department showed that while the U.S. economy added 850,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, it is still down 6.8 million jobs from February 2020. Job openings have surged to a record high of 9.2 million, and as the economy continues to reopen, we expect the economy to continue to mend. Consensus forecasts put full year U.S. Real GDP growth over 6% in 2021, which would help to close the large gap between the current level of economic activity and potential output. More
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Research Note | July 12, 2021
Has An Urban Exodus Occurred? Residential Environment Trends Shaping the Future of Where We Live
As we noted in a previous report, there was an observed shift of home purchases in the last decade, even before the onset of COVID-19, from urban areas to suburbs and rural towns. We went on to link several possible socioeconomic factors driving the ongoing trend of household migration away from urban areas. More
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Consumer Research | July 12, 2021
Credit Reporting Perceptions
According to a recent Freddie Mac survey of homeowners and renters, many Americans are confused about the impact of debt on their credit profile. More
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Research Note | June 2, 2021
Rural Home Purchases Outpaced Urban Purchases Through the 2010s
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased interest in homeowner mobility. There has been a growing trend of moving away from urban areas as housing preferences have shifted towards larger homes that are more conducive to remote work and virtual learning. More
