According to an article published by the National Association of Realtors, the number of households saying their income is significantly higher than it was a year ago is on the rise, as is the number expecting their financial situation to continue to move significantly higher over the next year. Both of these indicators are reaching all-time survey highs in Fannie Mae’s January 2015 National Housing Survey, which polls 1,000 Americans about their attitudes toward owning and renting a home.

Twenty-nine percent of households say their income is “significantly higher” now than it was 12 months ago. Also, 48 percent say they expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next year.

The increases in income are translating into higher optimism about the housing market. The number of households who said it was a good time to buy a home rose 3 percentage points in January to 67 percent, according to the survey. Also, the share of households who say they’d rather buy than rent if they were to move rose 5 percentage points to 66 percent, marking the first increase since September 2014, the survey shows. What’s more, 44 percent of households now say it’s a good time to sell, tying an all-time survey high.

This is good news for Ridgefield residents who are looking to buy or sell in 2015. We are already finding that the buyer market is very active with 42.9% more properties under contract in the month of January this year as compared to January 2014.

Additional findings from Fannie Mae’s January survey include:

1) The majority of households believe home prices will rise over the next year, an average of 2.5 percent over the next 12 months.
2) 45 percent of respondents say they believe mortgage rates will also rise over the next year, falling by 3 percentage points compared to one month earlier.
3) 52 percent of respondents believe home rental prices will rise over the next year — a slight decrease month over month. The average 12-month rental price expectation fell to 3.6 percent.

Source: “Consumers’ Positive Financial Attitudes a Good Sign for Housing,” Fannie Mae (Feb. 9, 2015)

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