Version:1.0StartHTML:0000000105EndHTML:0000006075StartFragment:0000002652EndFragment:0000006039 Normal 0 0 1 353 2017 The Michael Group Realtors 16 4 2477 11.1287 0 0 0
RISMEDIA, November 29, 2010—Fannie Mae's mostrecent nationwide housing survey finds that Americans are less certain that thehousing market has bottomed, and continue to be wary of buying a home. TheThird Quarter 2010 Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polled homeowners andrenters between July 2010 and September 2010. Findings were compared to similarsurveys conducted in June 2010, January 2010 and December 2003.
Fewer Americans think it is a good time to buy ahome (68 percent, down 2 percentage points since June) and more Americans thinkit is a bad time to buy (29 percent, up 3 percentage points). Similar to thelast survey, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe it is a bad time tosell a home (85 percent, up 2 percentage points since June).
"Consumer attitudes toward buying a home aremore negative since last quarter," said Doug Duncan, vice president andchief economist, Fannie Mae. "Our survey shows that Americans' decliningoptimism about housing and their personal finances is reinforcing increasinglyrealistic attitudes toward owning and renting."
One-quarter of respondents think that home priceswill rise during the next 12 months (6 percentage points lower than in June),while 22 percent expect home prices to decline (4 percentage points higher).Americans continue to believe that rental prices will rise more than homeprices and continue to believe that rental prices will go up rather than godown by a ratio of almost 4 to 1 (Americans expect rental prices to rise by 2.8percent over the next year, compared to 3.6 percent in June).
The perception that buying a home is a safeinvestment continues to decline among Americans. Although 66 percent ofAmericans think buying a house is a safe investment, this is down 1 percentagepoint from June 2010, down 4 percentage points from January 2010, and down 17percentage points from 2003.
For the first time, delinquent borrowers are morelikely to say they would rent rather than buy their next home – 50 percentwould rent (up 10 percentage points since January) and 45 percent would buy(down 11 percentage points since January). More than half of delinquentborrowers are very stressed about their debt, and, unlike most Americans, arefalling into more debt – 29 percent of delinquent borrowers have significantlyincreased their mortgage debt during the last year, almost three times thepercentage of mortgage borrowers who did so.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am still finding many great homes at incredible prices, making it a great time to buy a home if you're in a solid position to do so. Interest rates are at historical lows and will never again be this low once this cycle ends. Prices are at or near rock bottom with my buyers finding amazing deals now! If I can help you locate one of these deals, just let me know.
Alan Shaffer
214-335-8956
alan@thecondoguy.com
AlanShaffer.com
Expert Advice You Can Trust!