Mortgage Credit Easiest in 3.5 Years, Consumer Attitudes Improve -Fannie Housing Survey

Fannie Mae said today that results ofrnits December National Housing Survey show that the housing recovery is on firmrnfooting and consumer housing sentiment has bounced back from an autumn dip.  </p

Forty-nine percent of consumers expectrnthat home prices will increase over the next 12 months where only 43 percentrnheld such expectations in December 2012. rnAmong those who expect an increase, the average is a 3.2 percent rise inrnvalue compared to average expectations of 2.6 percent last year and 2.5 percentrnonly one month earlier.</p

</p

</p

There was a big increase year-over-year of those who viewrnthe present as a good time to sell a house. rnThose responses rose from 21 percent in December 2012 to 33 percent inrnthe recent survey.  Those who view it asrna good time to buy also rose 3 percentage points to 67 percent from November tornDecember although the number had declined from 70 percent a year earlier.</p

</p

Despite rising interest rates in recent months, slightly fewerrnconsumers expect even higher rates over the next 12 months.  They are also more optimistic about theirrnaccess to mortgage credit than they were a year ago, with those who say that itrnwould be easy to get a home mortgage today rising to 50 percent, compared to 45rnpercent last year. </p

“The marked improvement in housing market sentiment over therncourse of 2013 bore out our view going into the year that the housing recoveryrnwas on a firm footing. Year-over-year gains in home price expectations andrnattitudes about the current selling environment were particularly notable,”rnsaid Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.rn”Going into 2014, housing attitudes are recovering from a recent dip thatrncoincided with the heated fiscal discussions between the Administration andrnCongress late last year. Consumer attitudes about the ease of getting arnmortgage today are at their highest level in the survey’s three-and-a-half-yearrnhistory, which should help offset the current higher interest rate environmentrnand support a continued but measured housing recovery as we move through 2014.”</p

After leveling off over the last half year the percentage ofrnrespondents who expect rents to increase over the next 12 months jumped 3rnpercentage points to 53 percent compared to November while the averagernexpectation for rent increases soared a full point to 3.8 percent.</p

</p

</p

When asked about the economy in general and their ownrnpersonal financial situation, 31 percent of respondents said the economy is onrnthe right track, down slightly from last month. rnThe percentage of respondents who expect their personal financialrnsituation to improve over the next 12 months increased four points to 42rnpercent and 23 percent said their household income is already higher than thernyear before.   Those who say householdrnexpenses have increased over the last year fell from 33 percent in November torn30 percent in December. </p

</p

The National Housing Survey is conducted each month byrntelephone among a panel of over 1000 respondents, both homeowners andrnrenters.  They are asked over 100rnquestions to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, home andrnrental price changes, homeownership distress, the economy, household finances,rnand overall consumer confidence. The December survey was conducted betweenrnDecember 1, 2013 and December 16, 2013.

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