According to the National Housing Survey questions that Fannie Mae asks consumers each month, the GSEs Home Purchase Sentiment Index rose to 1.2 percent to 82.7 in Feb. over Jan., as nationalmortgagenews informs MHProNews.

Consumers who said their income was noticeably greater than 12 months ago increased three percentage points to 15.

Respondents who said now is a good time to purchase a home rose to 63 percent, while the number who said it is a good time to sell a house fell to seven percent.

Another positive note: the number of respondents who are not worried about losing their job increased to 87 percent.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, said high home prices have been a deterrent to would-be home buyers, but added, “A slower pace of home price appreciation may provide some relief for potential homebuyers, especially first-time buyers who couldn’t reap the benefits of selling a home at high prices to buy another one.” ##

(Photo credit: apartmentquest)

Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.