Fannie Mae’s latest national housing survey finds that Americans are more confident about the stability of home prices than they were at the beginning of 2010, even though they lack confidence in the strength of the economy: The Fannie Mae Fourth Quarter National Housing Survey, conducted between October 2010 and December 2010, polled homeowners and renters to assess their confidence in homeownership as an investment, the current state of their household finances, views on the U.S. housing finance system and overall confidence in the economy.
78% of respondents believe housing prices will hold steady or increase over the next twelve months, up from 73% in January 2010; but almost two-thirds still believe the economy is on the wrong track, virtually unchanged (61%) from the beginning of last year.
Doug Duncan, Vice President and Chief Economist of Fannie Mae, said, “More Americans believe that housing prices will remain stable over the next year. We are also seeing encouraging signs in the positive attitudes toward homeownership among younger Americans, despite the severe impact of the housing crisis on Generation Y. But most respondents to our survey continue to lack confidence in the strength of the economic recovery, and they are less optimistic about their ability to buy a home in the years ahead. This sense of uncertainty is weighing on the housing recovery today and reshaping expectations for housing for the future.”
During 2010, survey respondents increasingly expressed a strong belief that it will be harder for future generations to obtain a mortgage. Three-quarters of those surveyed (74%) believe it will be harder to get a mortgage in the future, up from just over two-thirds at the beginning of 2010.
The percentage of Americans who believe that buying a home is a safe investment declined to 64% over the course of the year, from 70% in January 2010. This is down sharply from a similar survey conducted in December 2003, when 83% of the general population thought buying a home was a safe investment.
The good news for the inventory of distressed homes is that one out of three delinquent borrowers continues to say they have considered defaulting on their mortgage. However, that number fell from 39% at the beginning of the year to 31% in the fourth quarter. The number of delinquent borrowers who say they have seriously considered defaulting has also declined, from 25% in January 2010 to 19%. (Read more survey highlights at RISMedia.com.)
I know the communities in Mercer County and surrounding areas, and the local lenders. If you want to buy a home, I can help you achieve your goals. Call or email me today.
Joe Giancarli, SA
Real Estate Advisor
Short Sale Specialist
609-658-2612
jgiancarli@remax.net
http://www.joegiancarli.com/
http://www.njhomesource.com/
http://www.newjerseynewhomes.blogspot.com/
www.activerain.com/blogs/josephgiancarli
Find homes for sale using my new mobile app. Just text JOEG to 87778 and you will be sent download instructions. Once installed on your device, you will be able to do searches and see complete listing details including photos and prices. If your device is GPS enabled you will also see the listings on a map. (Data rates may apply.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment