Americans have a positive overall outlook on housing despite a decrease in optimism from a month ago, according to new data from Fannie Mae
Americans have a positive overall outlook on housing despite a decrease in optimism from a month ago, according to new data from Fannie Mae.
Fannie’s February National Housing Survey results showed a significant bump in Americans’ expectations for home prices, with 50% believing prices will go up in the next year. The percentage of consumers who believe it would be a good time to buy a house was also up, rising by three percentage points in February.
However, the percentage of people who believe it would be easy to get a mortgage was down, dropping seven percentage points from January’s survey high of 52%. The percentage of people who said the economy was on the wrong track was up, increasing three percentage points to 57%.
“Similar to the noisy economic and housing data published over the past few months, we've seen a corresponding increase in volatility in our survey results, particularly for home price expectations and perceptions about the ease of getting a mortgage,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Weather may have played a role, as suggested by a 6 percentage point jump over the past two months in the share of consumers who say their household expenses are significantly higher than a year ago. This response would be consistent with higher home heating costs. Despite the volatile month-to-month changes, we believe that the housing recovery is continuing, but is not yet robust.”
Fannie’s February National Housing Survey results showed a significant bump in Americans’ expectations for home prices, with 50% believing prices will go up in the next year. The percentage of consumers who believe it would be a good time to buy a house was also up, rising by three percentage points in February.
However, the percentage of people who believe it would be easy to get a mortgage was down, dropping seven percentage points from January’s survey high of 52%. The percentage of people who said the economy was on the wrong track was up, increasing three percentage points to 57%.
“Similar to the noisy economic and housing data published over the past few months, we've seen a corresponding increase in volatility in our survey results, particularly for home price expectations and perceptions about the ease of getting a mortgage,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Weather may have played a role, as suggested by a 6 percentage point jump over the past two months in the share of consumers who say their household expenses are significantly higher than a year ago. This response would be consistent with higher home heating costs. Despite the volatile month-to-month changes, we believe that the housing recovery is continuing, but is not yet robust.”
