By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
With the year nearing an end Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan and his Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group are holding to their most recent projections for the economy; 2.2 percent growth in the current year and 2.4 percent in 2016. This expansion will be supported by “solid consumer spending growth and a pickup in construction activity and continued rising home sales and prices. Headwinds for manufacturing and exports stemming from the strength in the dollar and weak global growth are unlikely to dissipate in the near term. However, the drag on manufacturing from the inventory cycle and declining oil prices should fade next year.” Consumer spending is expecting to be the primary driver of growth in the last quarter of 2015 and in early 2016 with residential investment growth projected to strengthen modestly from the 6.1 percent annualized pace in the third quarter.
