Americans’ view of the future of housing and their financial prospects continues to improve, according to the October 2014 National Housing Survey from Fannie Mae.
Per the results of Fannie’s survey, 45% of the respondents expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next 12 months, up from 38% a year ago. The share of respondents who expect the financial situation to worsen fell to 10%.
“Although consumer attitudes about the direction of the economy remain subdued, with only 40% of survey respondents saying the economy is on the right track, the October results mark a 13% point improvement compared to the same time last year,” Fannie said.
Fannie also reported that 44% of respondents believe that housing prices will rise in the next 12 months, which is actually down 1% from last month. The share of those who say home prices will decrease fell by one point to 7%.
The share of consumers who say that now is a good time to buy a house fell to 65% from 68% in September.
But on the other hand, the share of consumers who say that now is a good time to sell a house rose to 44%, which Freddie said is an all-time survey high.
“Consumers are growing more optimistic about the housing market in the face of broader improvement in economic sentiment,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
“The share of consumers who expect their personal finances to get better is near its highest level since the survey’s inception, while those expecting their finances to get worse reached a survey low,” Duncan continued.
“Home price expectations rose significantly this month, largely reversing the dip witnessed over the past four months, and the share of consumers who think it’s a good time to sell a home reached another survey high.”
Duncan said that the survey results suggest that the housing market may be headed towards an improved 2015.
“The narrowing gap between home buying and home selling sentiment may foreshadow increased housing inventory levels and a better balance of housing supply and demand,” Duncan said. “These results may help drive a healthier housing market in 2015.”
