Is the worst over for housing? Or yet to come?
At least when it comes to the battered housing market, consumer sentiment may have finally hit bottom.
Americans see housing prices finally stabilizing in 2012, predicting, on average, a modest .8 bump up in real estate values, according to Fannie Mae's latest monthly survey of the national housing market.
Some of it is clearly tied to the economy, with more people now saying their personal financial situation will be better over the next year than those predicting no improvement at all.
Roughly 71 percent said it is a good time to buy a home, up three points from Fannie Mae's November survey. However, just 11 percent believe it is a good time to sell.
I'd argue short of a complete Euro Zone meltdown and a global relapse into recession, there's not much more bad stuff that can happen in the housing market that we haven't already seen. Massive foreclosures? Been there, done that.
Here are some bullet points copied directly from the Fannie survey. What's your take? Is it a really a good time to buy, and if, so, where? Or, conversely, is it time to run for cover?
- Twenty-six percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months (up 4 percentage points since last month), while 18% say they expect home prices to decline (down 4 percentage points since last month). 52% say prices will stay the same.
- Seventy-one percent of respondents say it is a good time to buy a home (up 3 percentage points since last month), and 11% say it is a good time to sell.
- Twenty-two percent of Americans say the economy is on the right track (up by 6 percentage points since November). The percentage who say the economy is on the wrong track dropped to 69% (a decline of 6 percentage points).
- For the first time since February 2011, a larger share of respondents (40%) say their personal financial situation will get better over the next 12 months than say it will stay the same (39%).
