Housing Recovery Expected in Fannie Mae Survey

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Most respondents in the survey believe that mortgage rates are going to increase over the next year.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) March 10, 2014

On February 27th, CF Funding reported a slight decrease in consumer confidence, in regards to employment conditions, business conditions, and total family income. Consumer expectations have not been at their highest lately, as the cold weather slowed home sales and kept many shoppers indoors. However, Fannie Mae reported today, March 10th that “consumer attitudes remain in generally positive ranges” and “the trend for most indicators remains positive” according to the February 2014 National Housing Survey. CF Funding is happy to share that home price expectations rose in February by 7 points to 50 percent, a sure sign of economic recovery.

Most respondents in the survey believe that mortgage rates are going to increase over the next year, at 56 percent (a 1 point increase from last month). CF Funding agrees with this prediction and urges those who are considering buying a home to lock in low rates as soon as possible. The percent of respondents who expect that rental prices will increase over the next year increased 3 percent to a 51 percent total. 45 percent of respondents believe it would be easy to get a home mortgage, 66 percent say they would buy if they were going to move, and 30 percent said they would rent if they were going to move. CF Funding would like to remind readers that often the monthly cost of a mortgage is less than renting, yet buying has the reward of home equity.

Survey results also revealed that “those who believe it is a good time to buy a home” have increased by 3 percentage points from 65 percent to 68 percent. On the other hand, those who say the economy is on the wrong track also increased by 3 percent in this survey. Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, says the volatility in survey results may be caused by the extreme weather, as “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…would be consistent with higher home heating costs.” Duncan believes that despite these changes, “the housing recovery is continuing, but is not yet robust.”

The Fannie Mae Monthly National Housing Survey uses 1,000 responses from participants age 18 and older. The February report’s data was collected from February 1st to February 23rd of this year.

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