Positive Consumer Outlook Toward 2013 Housing Market

Over the last year, prospective home buyers looking at new homes for sale have witnessed a nationally recovering housing market that has produced many positive trends in local markets and has contributed to the rise in home starts, home sales, and home prices.

According to the National Association of Realtors, consumers have displayed an increasingly optimistic attitude toward the housing market and the direction of home prices in 2013.  A positive consumer outlook could greatly influence the housing industry as a whole and lead to a greater rise in new home sales in new home communities throughout the country.

According to Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey results, consumers anticipate home prices to increase 2.6% over the next year, which is the highest level since Fannie Mae began conducting the survey back in 2010.  Survey results also showed that 43% of respondents say they believe mortgage rates will rise over the course of 2013.  The significant drop in long-term mortgage rates in 2012 made the prospect of homeownership more attainable for many potential home buyers, and buying a new home for sale became more affordable.  So, the idea of both prices and rates going up could provide prospective buyers with greater incentive to purchase affordable homes for sale in a new home community, like Bayside.

Fannie Mae’s chief economist, Doug Duncan, commented on the results saying that the December survey showed that the highest percentage of consumers in the survey’s history expect to see home prices rise over the next 12 months.  This is consistent with Fannie Mae’s projection that home prices will rise on a national basis going forward, he said.

The positive home price outlook from consumers, combined with their expectation that mortgage rates will also increase, may encourage many new home buyers to purchase new homes for sale sooner rather than later, thus bolstering continued house acceleration across the country, and contributing to the overall housing market recovery.