Dive Brief:
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Consumers were upbeat about the housing market in January, according to the National Housing Survey released by Fannie Mae this week.
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After expressing some pessimism about the market in December, 67% of consumers told Fannie Mae last month that now is a good time to buy a home. Plus, the number of survey participants who said they would rather buy a home than rent one if they had to move rose 5%, to 66%. That number increased for the first time since September.
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Still, despite low interest rates and efforts by banks and federal housing authorities to make it easier to qualify for mortgages, the number of consumers who said they believe getting a home loan would be easy dropped by 3%, to 50% last month.
Dive Insight:
Consumer optimism in the housing industry tends to rise as personal financial confidence improves. In January, the share of respondents who reported earning more money in the past year than they did a year ago was at an all-time high. So was the number of people who said they expect their personal financial situations to improve this year.