WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Results from Fannie
Mae's November 2014 National Housing
Survey show that Americans' attitudes toward housing have tracked
closely with the uneven 2014 housing market trend, which is
improving but lagging behind the overall economy trend. According
to the survey results, consumers' personal financial outlook has
increased fairly steadily during the year, lending support to the
ongoing housing market recovery. The share of respondents who
expect mortgage rates to go up in the next 12 months decreased
again to 45 percent, in line with a gradual but uneven decline
since the beginning of the year. On the other hand, the share who
believe it is a good time to buy and sell a home moved further
apart. Sixty-eight percent of consumers now say it is a good time
buy, an increase of 3 percentage points, compared to 39 percent who
say it is a good time to sell, a 5 percentage point drop.
"November's National Housing Survey results support the 2014
trend of gradual, but often sporadic and unspectacular, improvement
across a range of indicators measuring consumer attitudes toward
housing – mirroring the uneven recovery in housing activity this
year," said Doug Duncan, senior vice
president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "More encouraging is
the steady upward trend this year in consumers' assessment of their
personal finances, with 46 percent of Americans – near the survey's
high – expecting their personal financial situation to improve over
the next 12 months. We expect consumer attitudes toward housing to
improve as the pickup in the overall economy lifts employment and
income prospects. However, a sustained improvement in sentiment
that could support a robust housing recovery, as policy support is
removed, will require meaningful gains in household income. While
such gains have so far been elusive, the strength in the November
jobs report, which points to faster growth in labor income in the
current quarter, marks a good start."
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
Homeownership and Renting
- The average 12-month home price change expectation fell to 2.6
percent.
- The share of respondents who say home prices will go up in the
next 12 months remained at 44 percent. The share who say home
prices will go down decreased to 6 percent.
- The share of respondents who say mortgage rates will go up in
the next 12 months fell by 3 percentage points to 45 percent.
- Those who say it is a good time to buy a house rose to 68
percent. Those who say it is a good time to sell fell by 5
percentage points to 39 percent.
- The average 12-month rental price change expectation fell to
3.6 percent.
- The percentage of respondents who expect home rental prices to
go up in the next 12 months increased by 4 percentage points to 53
percent.
- The share of respondents who think it would be difficult to get
a home mortgage today decreased by 3 percentage points.
- The share who say they would buy if they were going to move
fell to 62 percent, while the share who would rent increased to 31
percent.
The Economy and Household Finances
- The share of respondents who say the economy is on the right
track fell 4 percentage points to 36 percent.
- The percentage of respondents who expect their personal
financial situation to get better over the next 12 months increased
to 46 percent.
- The share of respondents who say their household income is
significantly higher than it was 12 months ago remained at 25
percent.
- The share of respondents who say their household expenses are
significantly higher than they were 12 months remained at 36
percent.
The most detailed consumer attitudinal survey of its kind, the
Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polled 1,000 Americans via live
telephone interview to assess their attitudes toward owning and
renting a home, home and rental price changes, homeownership
distress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumer
confidence. Homeowners and renters are asked more than 100
questions used to track attitudinal shifts (findings are compared
to the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). To reflect the growing share of
households with a cell phone but no landline, the National Housing
Survey has increased its cell phone dialing rate to 60 percent as
of October 2014. For more
information, please see the Technical Notes. Fannie Mae conducts
this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may
help industry partners and market participants target our
collective efforts to stabilize the housing market in the
near-term, and provide support in the future.
For detailed findings from the November
2014 survey, as well as technical notes on survey
methodology and questions asked of respondents associated with each
monthly indicator, please visit the Fannie Mae Monthly National
Housing Survey page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site
are in-depth topic analyses, which provide a detailed assessment of
combined data results from three monthly studies. The November 2014 Fannie Mae National Housing Survey
was conducted between November 1,
2014 and November 17, 2014.
Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of
this period. Interviews were conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, in
coordination with Fannie Mae.
Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of
Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included
in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie
Mae's business prospects or expected results, are based on a number
of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this
information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors.
Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates,
forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it
does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials
is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose.
Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these
views could produce materially different results. The analyses,
opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the
ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date
indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae
or its management.
Fannie Mae enables people to buy, refinance, or rent
homes.
Visit us at
http://www.fanniemae.com/progress.
Follow us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/FannieMae.
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SOURCE Fannie Mae