In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, to talk about the latest housing market and macroeconomic forecast released this week from the mortgage giant. Len explains how Freddie Mac does their forecasting, what they see for the coming year in real estate, how last year’s real estate boom skews today’s inflation numbers, and more. Download the latest research at https://freddiemac.com/research.

About Len Kiefer

Len Kiefer has served as Deputy Chief Economist at Freddie Mac since December 2012. He is responsible for primary and secondary mortgage market analysis and research, macroeconomic analysis, and forecasting. He also analyzes policy issues affecting the housing industry. Before joining Freddie Mac as a Senior Economist in 2009, Len was an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University, where he conducted research on macroeconomics and monetary policy. Previously, he taught economics at Ohio State University and finance at George Mason University. Len is a Member of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and the American Economics Association.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• The mechanics behind Freddie Mac’s sophisticated economic forecasting
• What Freddie Mac’s latest forecast says about the coming year in real estate
• How last year’s real estate boom skews today’s inflation numbers
• The impact of migration and remote work on home prices
• What the future holds for mortgage rates
• Len Kiefer’s creative approach to data visualization and storytelling

Featuring Mike Simonsen, CEO of Altos Research

A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Len Kiefer on LinkedIn
• Len Kiefer on Twitter
• Len Kiefer’s website
• Freddie Mac
• Freddie Mac’s Housing and Economic Research
• Mike Simonsen on LinkedIn
• Altos Research

Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

https://twitter.com/altosresearch

https://twitter.com/mikesimonsen

See you next week!