The U.S. housing market is starting to "bounce along the bottom," the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, James Lockhart, said Thursday. Speaking in a interview with the Fox Business Network, he said that the FHFA's index, which reflect the book of business of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), is up 0.3% in the past three months. This stabilization of the market, along with lower mortgage rates and lower house prices, could inspire some of the people on the sidelines to start to buy. "That would really help the market," he said.

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