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The negativity extended tornhousing.  The share of respondents whornsaid they would buy a home if they were to move decreased 5 percentage pointsrnto 60 percent – a new all-time survey low and the share of those who thought itrnwould be easy for them to get a mortgage fell four percentage points to 50rnpercent.  The percentage consumers whornexpect mortgage rates to increase over the next 12 months also increased byrnfour points.</p

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On the bright side, the share ofrnconsumers who believe now is a good time to sell a home reached a new surveyrnhigh of 46 percent, narrowing the gap with those reporting it is a good time tornbuy, perhaps signaling a more balanced housing market. </p

Forty-eight percent of respondentsrnexpect home prices to rise over the next 12 months compared to 46 percent inrnFebruary and the average increase expected went from 2.5 to 2.7 percent.  </p

“Consumers are being patient prior tornentering the housing market. Our March survey results emphasize how criticalrnattitudes about income growth are to consumers’ outlook on housing,” said DougrnDuncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “We’ve seenrnmodest improvement in total compensation resulting from a strengthened laborrnmarket. However, income growth perceptions and personal financial expectationsrnboth eased off of recent highs, consistent with Friday’s weak jobs report.rnSimultaneously, the share of consumers expecting to buy on their next move hasrndeclined. We believe the recent setback in consumer sentiment should be shortrnlived if early signs of income growth bear out and occur in proportion tornexpected interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the wait for housing expansionrncontinues.” </p

Fannie Mae’s survey is conductedrnmonthly by phone among about 1,000 consumers, both homeowners and renters.  They are asked over 100 questions to assess theirrnattitudes toward owning and renting a home, home and rental price changes,rnhomeownership distress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumerrnconfidence. The March 2015 National Housing Survey was conducted between Marchrn1, 2015 and March 23, 2015 with most data collected during the first two weeksrnof this period.

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