A gathering of economists recently brought together by the National Association of Home Builders forecast continued gains for the housing market, despite obstacles that are impeding its recovery. David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist, said the cards are in play for a decent and fairly strong recovery in 2014 and particularly in 2015. According to Crowe, housing has been growing at two, three, and four times the rate of the rest of the economy in recent quarters. That growth, spurred by a double-digit increase in home prices as well as rising household formations, has led to an increasingly healthy market and optimistic forecasts from experts and analysts. Still, labor shortages, tighter inventory and credit, higher material prices, and inaccurate appraisals are hurting new and existing home sales. And economic uncertainty tied to the government shutdown and debt ceiling debate also threaten housing’s progress. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, feels Congress will resolve these issues quickly but cautions that, if they don’t, it challenges the economic outlook and could result in another recession. More here.