Fannie Sees Fed Waiting, Housing Cooling; Rates Near Highs Ahead of Fed; Construction Numbers Lag

Fannie Sees Fed Waiting, Housing Cooling; Rates Near Highs Ahead of Fed; Construction Numbers Lag

Fannie Mae says that early bets on third quarter economic growth are around 3.0 percent which has the Federal Reserve talking again about raising the fed funds target rate, but odds are it won't happen at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting this week. Even with an acceleration in the second half of the year Fannie Mae's economists are holding to their July forecast of 1.8 percent growth this year. The current (third quarter) GDP should come in around 2.9 percent annualized, an acceleration that will reflect a rebound in inventory investment from its very low level during the first half of the year. Consumer spending is expected to remain the biggest driver of growth and non-residential investment should increase after three consecutive quarters of decline. However, the company