The Housing Market Sees Increased Consumer Confidence

Though we saw a disappointing housing market in 2014, the new year has a more positive outlook. After dropping in December, consumer confidence in the housing market increased last month, according to the results from Fannie Mae's January 2015 National Housing Survey. In the survey, 29% of respondents said their income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, a 4-point raise from the previous report. Likewise, 48% of respondents said they expect to see their finances improve over the next year. Both of these percentages were the survey's all-time highs.

At the start of this year, consumers expressed more optimistic about their financial situation, and that confidence is spreading over to the housing market.Consumers feel more confident about buying or selling a home, and many are planning to own a home in the near future. Following a decline in December, the respondents who said it's a good time to buy a home jumped 3 percentage points to 67%, while those who said they'd rather buy than rent moved up 5 percent to 66%