National Housing Survey has Remarkable Findings for Huntington Beach Home Buyers & Sellers

Fannie Mae just released their August 2014 National Housing Survey. The survey had some remarkable findings:

Although labor markets are gaining strength, the improvements have not translated to rapid housing market recovery this year.

Despite very low mortgage rates, the number of people surveyed who said they believe now is a good time to sell a home fell six percentage points to 64 percent, and the number of people who said now is a good time to buy a home declined to 38 percent. The result definitely illustrates that lenders and Realtors need to do a better job explaining to market participants that low mortgage rates save buyers money, and increase the likelihood of a home sale at top dollar.

The number of respondents surveyed who believe home prices will increase in the next 12 months stayed at 42 percent from July to August, while the percentage of respondents who say they think home prices will go down in the next year increased to 9 percent while the share of those who thought and mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months fell to 50 percent. The average 12-month home price expectation also took a slight dip from July to August, to 2.1 percent.

The percentage of survey respondents who said they would buy a home if they moved dropped to 64 percent while they number who said they would rent if they moved jumped up to 32 percent. The 32 percent gap between the two is the smallest in more than a year.

“To date, this year’s labor market strength has not translated into sufficient income gains to inspire confidence among consumers to purchase a home, even in the current favorable interest rate environment,” Duncan said. “Our third quarter Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey results, to be released later this month, are expected to show whether mortgage demand from the lender perspective is in line with consumer housing sentiment.”
In considering the report myself, I would say that many buyers and sellers do not realize what a great time it is to participate in the market under today’s conditions with very low interest rates. I believe the savvy Huntington Beach home buyers & sellers will be very active during the remainder of 2014

Fannie Mae representatives polled 1,000 Americans live via telephone for the results in the August 2014 National Housing Survey. Click Here for a link to the report from DS News

Thanks for Reading! And, keep the homebuyer & home seller referrals coming… those people you send allow me to have the time and resources to publish this Market Update each month! Please share this information via: word of mouth, email link, and/or social media. I really appreciate it!