Single Family Home Buyers May Return

ATLANTA-Tuesday morning at the MBA CREF12 Conference saw predictions from two of the association’s research and economic gurus, including one in which the late spring and early summer sees a surge in single family home buyers. The two—chief economist and SVP, Research and Education Jay Brinkmann and VP, Commercial/Multifamily Research Jamie Woodwell—also touched on their overall predictions for the commercial and multifamily markets.

During this, the Second General Session, Brinkmann said that when fourth quarter 2011 numbers came in, “a lot of people were somewhat surprised and disappointed by how low they appeared,” but that the numbers were “right on top of” their forecast. “We weren’t expecting the growth in fourth quarter that some others were expecting.” Behind the slowdown, Brinkmann said, was a large buildup of inventory.