Americans continue to show growing confidence in home price increases over the next 12 months, providing further indications of a slow but steady housing recovery, according to results from Fannie Mae’s October 2012 National Housing Survey. Taken together with rental price expectations, which surged in October, more consumers may be motivated to purchase a home in the coming months.
In the October survey, respondents raised their expectations for home price growth in the next 12 months to 1.7 percent, up from 1.5 percent in September. In October 2011, consumers expected prices to fall by 0.3 percent.
In addition, only 10 percent of respondents expect home prices to drop during the same one-year period, and 36 percent say prices will go up and 48 percent say they will stay the same.
“This has been a year of steady growth in the percentage of consumers with positive home price expectations,” said Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan in a release.
Consumers’ placed even more confidence in rent prices, stating they expect prices to rise by an average of 3.9 percent in the next 12 months, up from 3.1 percent in September. A mere 3 percent expect rent prices to go down, and 50 percent expect rent prices to move higher.
