Dive Brief:

• Freddie Mac joins those saying the housing recovery needs the overall economy to catch up with it so potential buyers can get jobs they need to borrow.
• Chief Economist and Vice President Frank Nothaft said the disconnect between price and rate growth and income growth has eroded affordability.
• Nothaft claims that housing should take off at a sprint for the first part of the year, but it cannot sustain a strong pace if the economy cannot generate jobs at a faster pace than it has recently.

Dive Insight:

Nothaft called the most recent labor market report "lackluster," and Freddie Mac's predictions show the current 6.6% unemployment rate will only inch down to 6.4% by year's end. According to the chief economist, this slow drop affects the housing market because "... jobs and income growth are necessary for 2014 to turn in another gold-medal performance for the housing recovery."