Posted To: MND NewsWireFannie Mae’s monthly Economic Development papers always have the best headlines, pithy and to the point. The August one reads. “Growth Picks Up as Expected, No Thanks to Housing.” Sort of says it all. The company’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Team is upgrading its estimate of third quarter growth based on the acceleration of headline economic growth in the second quarter. Consumer spending and net exports drove the action although business inventories declined and dragged on growth. So too did residential investment, which had a negative impact for the fourth time in five quarters, subtracting 0.04 percentage point from the GDP. The residential investment component includes homebuilding, renovations, and brokerage commissions. Home building was lackluster, posting the largest monthly…(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.