Fitch Ratings has sharply lowered its expectations for several key performance indicators (KPIs) for the U.S. housing sector in 2023 due to greater than expected mortgage rate volatility and our expectations for benchmark U.S. interest rates to remain “higher-for-longer” as detailed in our latest Global Economic Outlook (GEO). Our revised 2024 forecast shows modest year-over-year (yoy) improvements compared to 2023 for most KPIs. However, the absolute activity levels implied are lower than our prior 2024 expectations, and will be comparable to 2017-2018 levels. (full story)