Americans Feel Good About Finances, Housing

Americans are feeling better about their personal financial situation and that optimism is expected to help boost the housing market in the coming year. According to Fannie Mae's October National Housing Survey – which polls Americans to assess their attitudes toward buying a home, the economy, household finances, and more – found that the share of respondents who say they expect their financial situation to worsen in the next year fell to just 10 percent and the number that expect it to improve rose to 45 percent, nearing an all-time survey high. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist, said consumers are growing more optimistic about their personal finances and the results may help drive a healthier housing market in 2015. According to Duncan, the fact that the gap between the number of Americans who say it is a good time to sell a home and those that say it's a good time to buy a home has been narrowing indicates the housing market should be more evenly balanced over the next 12 months. Participants also expect home prices, mortgage rates, and rent to rise in the next year. More here.

Demand For Loans To Buy Homes Increases

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey tracks changes in average mortgage rates and mortgage loan application volume. According to the most recent release, mortgage rates increased slightly on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances and on 15-year fixed-rate loans last week. Loans with jumbo balances and those backed by the Federal Housing Administration were unchanged from the previous week. Despite the uptick in average interest rates, demand for loans to buy homes was up from the week before, rising 3 percent. But, due to a 6 percent drop in refinance volume, the Market Composite Index – which measures total mortgage loan application volume – fell 2.6 percent. Several weeks of declining mortgage rates caused refinance activity to pick up recently. However, with interest rates up the past two weeks, refinance demand has fallen and led to consecutive weeks of declining application volume. The MBA's weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. More here.