Real Estate News You Should Know #homeownership #market #investment

Source:  California Association of Realtors

Real Estate News For Your Information

- Surging mortgage rates, dwindling inventory, and soaring home prices are taking a toll on Americans' attitudes toward ownership, according to a survey released last week.

- The home purchase sentiment index compiled by mortgage finance provider Fannie Mae fell in December, its fifth straight monthly decline, according to MarketWatch.

- Fannie's index has six components.  In December, two were lower compared to November, two were unchanged, and two increased.  But the index was 2.5 percentage points lower than a year ago, with only one component higher.

- The surge in consumer sentiment that's been recorded since the presidential election is typical, Fannie chief economist Doug Duncan noted in a statement, and whether buyers can withstand the corresponding jump in mortgage rates is an open question.

- In fact, it was the second yearly decline for the component that tracks the number of people who say it's a good time to buy.  That was a net 36 percent in December 2014, a net 35 percent in December 2015, and a net 32 percent last month.

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