Americans' confidence in housing wavering

Many consumers are becoming increasingly less confident about the prospects of moving into a new home, according to a new report.

Fannie Mae's quarterly housing survey polled residents during this year's third quarter and found that 68 percent think it is a good time to buy a home, down 2 percentage points from the previous quarter. Americans are especially pessimistic regarding selling their homes - 85 percent believe the current market makes for poor home selling conditions, up from 83 percent during the previous quarter. The report added that 66 percent of Americans think owning a home is a solid investment, down 1 percentage point from June, 4 percentage points from January 2010 and 17 percentage points from 2003.

"Consumer attitudes toward buying a home are more negative since last quarter," said Doug Duncan, Fannie's vice president and chief economist. "Our survey shows that Americans' declining optimism about housing and their personal finances is reinforcing increasingly realistic attitudes toward owning and renting."

The issue could be falling home values - just 25 percent expect prices to rise over the next 12 months. That may discourage many from moving into a new home for fear that they will lose money on their investment.

Many Americans may be considering recent reports that predict price declines to persist into 2011. Both Fiserv and the National Association of Realtors have said that they expect home values to remain low until at least 2012.
 

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