WASHINGTON - Housing analysts at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Construction Forecast Conference last week said that even if the Federal Reserve Board begins raising interest rates, the housing industry is moving into a healthier economic environment where job growth and income gains will keep residential construction and sales at healthy levels.
David Seiders, NAHB's chief economist, expects that the federal funds rate, which is currently 1 percent, will begin to rise in August and increase gradually to about 3 percent by the end of 2005. That would boost the prime interest rate, he said, but in terms of the availability and cost of loans, the industry is heading into a very favorable financing environment.