Fannie Mae: Factors Hindering Home Sales into 2022

Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA) says it expects U.S. home sales to end 2021 a bit higher than they were the year before and the multiple economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic to dampen the market well into next year. The ESR economists also adjusted their housing construction forecast to reflect their belief that some of the housing starts they had expected for later this year would be pushed into 2022. Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says builder sentiment is continuing the cooling seen since hitting a record peak last November, and that segment is now "stable."