Daily News 12/19/14

December 19, 2014

Friday – December 19

Government sponsored agency Freddie Mac released its Economic and Housing Market Outlook for December this week revealing that expectations were calling for healthy gains in home sales, but a weaker than expected economy and a harsh winter early in the year caused a significant drag on sales. The economy and home sales did recover in the second half of the year and Freddie Mac expects this trend to continue into 2015. In addition, Freddie Mac sees home price gains moderating to an annualized growth rate of 3% in 2015.

Traveling by auto for the holiday season will be even cheaper than it was at Thanksgiving due to the continued drop in gas prices at the pumps. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is at $2.45, down from $2.83 a month ago. Motor Club AAA predicts that prices can go even lower to $2.25 and $2.40 by the time 2014 comes to an end. AAA says gas prices have fallen 84 days in a row for a total of 87 cents per gallon, representing the second-longest consecutive streak on record. Gas prices have dropped $1.22 per gallon since reaching a 2014 average high of $3.70 per gallon on April 28.