Fannie Mae’s chief economist forecasts his own retirement

The chief economist of Fannie Mae expects to hang up the cleats this year.

Doug Duncan, who’s been the chief economist at the government-sponsored enterprise since 2008, will be retiring effective Sept. 22, according to Rob Chrisman, who first reported the news on his blog Tuesday morning. Mark Palim, the company’s deputy chief economist, will succeed Duncan as chief economist.

Duncan joined Fannie Mae after a 15-year stint as an economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). He will assist with the transition and will leave Fannie on Dec. 27.

Palim joined Fannie Mae in December 2009 and was promoted to deputy chief economist in July 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Duncan sat down with HousingWire in June to share his thoughts on the Federal Reserve‘s policymaking efforts, its impact on the secondary mortgage market, the prospect of closed-end second mortgages, and general issues of affordability for borrowers.