The housing market’s recovery won’t stall when tax credits expire and interest rates rise this year, according to Michael Fratantoni, vice-president of single family research at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. While mortgage rates right now are hovering around 4.9%, they could swell by almost 1% this year as two factors will drive up rates. 1st-the Federal Reserve has drawn back from its program to buy back mortgage-backed securities, which had kept interest rates down. 2nd-continued growth in the economy likely will cause interest rates for mortgages to rise. “We don’t think it’s going to derail the recovery that we’re seeing,” he said. “However we do expect it’s going to be a slow recovery over the next two to three years in the housing market. It will be enough to keep eating into the inventory of homes on the market.” Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist with Key Private Bank, said removing the second round of tax credits, which expire April 30th, probably won’t hurt housing sales much because most people who would take advantage of such incentives already have. “It’s a one-shot affair, and the longer you leave those things in place, the less effect they have.”