Housing economics guru to share 2006 forecast

As deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, Amy Crews Cutts is the go-to person for primary and secondary mortgage market analysis and research, macroeconomic analysis and forecasting. She also is involved in analyzing affordable lending activities, fair-housing policy, foreclosure prevention and other policy issues.

The Colorado native joined Freddie Mac in 1997 after serving as assistant professor of economics and senior researcher in the Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where she did research on housing policy, income distribution and poverty, specializing in cross-national comparisons.

She has taught economics at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia, and has published numerous studies in academic journals and books on the economics of subprime lending, the impact of technology on foreclosure prevention and the market for multifamily mortgages.

Cutts will speak during Real Estate Connect in New York City, Jan. 11-13, 2006.

Here are her answers to a set of questions posed by Inman News:

Panel or session at Connect: Forecast of a Changing Housing Market.

What type of home did you grow up in and where?

My parents were renting the basement apartment in a home in Denver. Soon after I was born, they bought a single-family detached home in Northglen, Colo., a Denver suburb.

What style of home do you live in and when did you buy it?

I own a three-bedroom Cape Cod home built in the 1940s in Fairfax County, Va., just inside the capitol beltway. My husband and I purchased the home in 1997.

What’s the strangest thing you ever packed in a suitcase?

A piece of Inuit Art made of Walrus tusk and Ivory.

What was your first job?

My first job outside of the family was working in a tack (riding clothes and saddlery) shop in Boulder, Colo. Prior to that I worked in my family’s restaurants.

Which daily newspaper do you read and which section do you read first?

I read the Washington Post over breakfast, usually starting with the first section unless I am in a hurry – then I skip directly to the weather and the comics.

Where did you spend your last vacation?

Steamboat Springs, Colo., a sort of family reunion

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

Guest co-hosting a program on CNBC called “Wake-Up Call” and getting a very theoretical statistical paper published in the Journal of Applied Econometrics (I am not sure today that I even understand the math I used then!).

What kind of music do you listen to?

Many kinds, but I have a special fondness for jazz singers from the 1930s-1950s and classical guitar.

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