Higher Rates Throttle Refinance Market, Suggest 50% Decline in Supply of Collateral for New MBS
December 19, 2003
Primary market mortgage production numbers have been slowing down since the middle of this year and mortgage industry economists are predicting a 50 percent drop in originations for 2004. David Berson, chief economist at Fannie Mae, is predicting $1.75 trillion in new mortgage originations in 2004, less than half the $3.67 trillion he estimates for this year, as the rate-term