Fannie Mae: Attitudes Towards Housing and Economy Stabilizing

Consumer attitudes about the economyrnhave risen considerably over the past few months while their confidence inrntheir own financial situations have stabilized according to Fannie Mae’srnFebruary National Housing Survey.  Thirty-five percent of Americans now feelrnthat the economy is on the right track, up 6 points since January and 19 pointsrnsince November, while 57 percent say it is on the wrong track, a 6 percent droprnin a month and 18 points since November.  </p

</a</p

Fannie Mae polls a panel of 1003rnAmericans, both renters and homeowners, by telephone every month to assessrntheir attitudes toward owning and renting a home, mortgage rates, homeownershiprndistress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumerrnconfidence.  The panel is a rolling onernwith respondents completing more than one survey over their tenure on thernpanel.  </p

Twelve percent of those surveyedrnexpected their personal financial situation to worsen over the next 12 monthsrncompared to 15 percent in January and the lowest number in over a year.  Sixteen percent say their income is lowerrnthan a year ago, down one percentage point in a month, while 63 percent reportrnno change, an increase of one point. </p

</p

Thirty-three percent say theirrnexpenses have increased significantly over the past 12 months, a 3 percentagernpoint decrease from last month and the lowest level in the past 12 months whilern54 percent reported little or no change, up from 52 percent.</p

When it comes to attitudes aboutrnhomeownership and renting the majority of Americans feel prices home pricesrnhave stabilized and that it is a good time to buy.  Further home price losses are expected by onlyrn15 percent of respondents, down one point from January while 53 percent expectrnthat prices will not change over the next year and 28 percent are looking forrnhigher prices.  Expectations about housernprices over the next year average out to a 0.8 percent increase compared to arn1.0 percent increase last month.</p

</p

Asked whether it is a good time tornbuy a home 70 percent responded that it was (down 1 percentage point) while thernrespondents who thought it is a good time to sell increased from 10 percent to 13rnpercent.</p

Fifty percent of Americans feel thatrnmortgage rates will remain unchanged over the next year while 34 percent expectrnan increase.  Each of these metrics wasrndown 1 percentage point while the numbers of respondents looking for furtherrnrate increases rose from 8 to 10 percent.</p

Expectations about rentals werernnearly evenly divided with 45 percent expecting rents to rise and the samernpercent looking for little or no change. rnOnly a few respondents expected rent decreases.  On average respondents expect home rentalrnprices to increase by 3.5 percent over the next year, a slight increase sincernJanuary.</p

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.