REALTORMag
Consumers have a fairly optimistic 12-month outlook on housing at the end of the summer home-buying season, says Doug Duncan, chief economist at mortgage giant Fannie Mae. The optimism is being buoyed by confidence in the job market and more favorable expectations regarding their personal finances compared to a year ago.
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index, overall, showed a slight upward trend during the spring and summer of this year. That falls in line “with our forecast, which calls for 4 percent growth in home sales in 2016 to the best level since 2006 and continued improvement for 2017,” Duncan says.