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At the same time those who view this as a good time to buy arnhome decreased from 68 percent to 64 percent, an all-time survey low.  Those who think it is a good time to sellrnwent up by one point to 40 percent.  Whenrnasked if their next home would be one they owned or rented the preference forrnrenting increased by 3 points to 41 while 61 percent said they would buy, downrn1 point from November and also anrnall-time survey low.  </p

“Despite consistentrnand robust job growth in recent months, consumer attitudes toward housingrnremained cautious in the final month of 2014,” said Doug Duncan, senior vicernpresident and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Our survey results show thatrnconsumer housing sentiment has, on average, been moving sideways amid somernimprovement in the general view of the economy. It is not surprising that thernhousing sector continues to lag behind the rest of the economy given thernlong-term financial commitment that getting a mortgage represents. Manyrnprospective homebuyers want to be certain that their personal finances canrnwithstand potential downside risks to the economy.” </p

“One notable result in the Decemberrnsurvey is that the share of consumers believing that it would be easy to get arnmortgage exceeds those saying it would be more difficult to get a mortgage byrnthe widest amount in the survey’s history,” said Duncan. “While this is arnwelcome signal, softness in consumer attitudes that drive housing demand willrnmake for a subdued recovery and should persist absent more meaningful andrnsustained gains in household income.” </p

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Forty-six percent of those surveyedrnthink home prices will increase over the next 12 months, up from 44 percent butrnthe average amount those respondents expect homes prices to rise dipped to 2.3rnpercent from 2.6 percent.  Eight percentrnof respondents are looking for lower home prices, up from 6 percent thernprevious month.  Nearly half expectrninterest rates to rise, up 3 points from 45 percent in November.</p

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Rental prices are expected to rise overrnthe next 12 months by 53 percent of those questioned, unchanged from the lastrnsurvey, but the average price increase expected increased from 3.6 percent torn4.1 percent.</p

While they are encouraged by therneconomy the percentage of respondents who expect a positive change in theirrnpersonal financial situation over the next 12 months fell by 1 point to 45rnwhile those who reported their income had risen over the last six months wasrnunchanged at 25 percent.  </p

The National Housing Survey polls 1,000rnAmericans each month by phone.  Rentersrnand home owners are asked over 100 questions to assess their attitudes aboutrnowning and renting a home, home prices, homeownership distress, and both thernnational economy and their personal finances.  The current survey was conducted betweenrnDecember 1, 2014 and December 14, 2014.

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