Next 10 years not as good for US house market

The US housing market is an important downstream consumer of many chemicals and chemical products, including paint and coatings, resins and vinyls.

Worries about a tidal wave of defaults due to the re-pricing of adjustable-rate mortgages are overblown, he said. Nearly two-thirds of the loans have already been refinanced, Vittner added.

But it will take some time to get back to the housing boom of the last decade, Vittner said.

“Consumer spending is growing more modestly due to slower home price appreciation and higher fuel prices,” Vittner said.

Business fixed investment and net exports need to pick up to bring the economy back to above-trend growth, Vittner added.