Weak Housing Market Calls Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Reform Into Question

The housing market is extremely cyclical, with volumes dropping sharply and prices dipping every winter, then picking up again in the spring. The overall trend is no different this year, but volumes were much lower than expected (prices continued to gain year-on-year). As with almost every other piece of disappointing economic data, the unusually harsh winter is being blamed for the depressed sales volume, but the strength of the rebound this spring and summer will tell us if that story holds water.

Year-on-year volumes still falling despite seasonal bounce

There were 169,000 home sales in DataQuick’s MSA Index (the top 99 out of 100 metropolitan areas in...