Americans are growing optimistic about buying a home, survey finds

Housing market confidence among Americans continues to trend in a positive direction despite stalling optimism about the economy and personal finances, according to results from Fannie Mae’s June 2012 National Housing Survey.

The mortgage-finance company’s survey of over 1,000 Americans last month found that 73 percent believe it is a good time to buy a home, increasing from 72 percent of the respondents in May.

“While consumers remain cautious about the general economy, their attitudes toward the housing market continue to improve,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.

“Although this positive trend may be short-lived if the general economy falters, one might ask whether consumers are increasingly seeing the current environment as a unique opportunity to buy a home while home prices remain depressed, rental costs are increasing, and interest rates are near historic lows,” Duncan said.

Respondents of the survey expect home prices to increase two percent in the next year, on average, and 35 percent of Americans say that home prices will go up in the next 12 months.

In addition, the share of consumers who say they would buy if they were going to move increased by six percentage points.

Other findings of the survey include:

• 36 percent of Americans think the economy is on the right track
• 57 percent think the economy is on the wrong track
• The percentage of respondents who expect their financial situation to remain the same over the next year dropped four percentage points from last month to 42 percent
• Only 18 percent of respondents say their household income has improved.