Fitch Ratings has released a pair of reports that offers a positive outlook on the U.S. residential mortgage market for 2013.
In the report titled ‘U.S. RMBS 2013 Outlook,’ Fitch Ratings says it expects the U.S. residential mortgage market to continue on its positive trajectory going into 2013, albeit slowly and not without challenges. Delinquency trends are improving for most sectors, inventory is declining, and distressed liquidations as a percentage of total sales have sharply dropped.
‘While Fitch Ratings expects new issue activity to rise in 2013, the volume pales in comparison to historical levels,’ says the report. ‘Still, investor demand remains strong due to solid performance of recent transactions and historically low yields.’
In a separate report titled ‘Global Market Outlook for Housing and Mortgage Lending,’ Fitch Ratings offers its 2013 outlook for house prices and prime residential mortgage performance varies greatly across the U.S., Europe and Australia – with the U.S. emerging as the world's best hope for a solid housing market.
‘There remain substantial concerns for the peripheral eurozone markets of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Italy, where Fitch Ratings anticipates depressed mortgage lending, continued declines in house prices and pressure on incomes and consumer confidence,’ the report says. ‘The outlook for other markets is generally more stable, notably for Germany and Australia, while the U.S. is finally expected to turn the corner in 2013.’