Mortgage Bankers Sees Higher Sales, Interest Rates in 2015

Washington, DC, Dec. 30, 2014 -- The Mortgage Bankers Association predicted in its December 2014 forecast that housing starts next year will peak in the fourth quarter at an annual rate of 1.15 million units.

That would be up from its projection of 1.035 million for the fourth quarter of this year.

A year from now, single family starts should be at a rate of 760,000, while multifamily would hit 390,000.

The association is also predicting that existing home sales will be at an annual rate of 5.28 million in the fourth quarter next year, up from an annual sales rate of 5.1 million this quarter.

New home sales should rise from a rate of 463,000 this quarter to 522,000 in the fourth quarter next year, the association says.

In terms of mortgage rates, MBA sees 30-year fixed rates rising from 4% this quarter to 5.1% by the end of next year