Johns Hopkins University alumnus Mark Palim has assumed the position of Fannie Mae’s chief economist, after 13 years as Doug Duncan’s deputy at the mortgage giant.
“Today, I am excited and honored to start my new role as Fannie Mae’s chief economist. I’m proud to lead a team of highly talented economists and research professionals who have dedicated their careers to objective and analytically rigorous research and forecasts,” he wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. “Their insights provide our company and decision-makers across housing with a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of today’s housing and mortgage markets.”
Palim has a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University and a B.A. in international studies from the Johns Hopkins University. He is also a chartered financial analyst charter holder. Since starting at Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company in 1988, Palim has been an economics researcher.
In his role at Fannie Mae, Palim will be responsible for forecasts and analyses of the economy, and the housing and mortgage markets. He will lead its Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group, a winner previously of the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy and the NABE Outlook Award.
Prior to Fannie Mae, Palim was an economic consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and consulting firm LECG. He also served as the special master administering the Federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
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Palim’s rise to the head of economics research at Fannie Mae comes amid concerns over high housing prices and low demand, with the recent rate cut not expected to make much of a dent.
“Strong home price appreciation has persisted despite purchase affordability remaining stretched for the vast majority of consumers, a dynamic that is still primarily a function of inadequate supply,” Palim said at a recent panel discussion.
Palim said there was a widespread agreement that there is a fundamental lack of housing in the United States relative to underlying demographic factors. On average, the nation is believed to be short approximately 2.8 million homes, he added.
