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Consumer confidence is climbing higher as more people are seeing improved household incomes and that, in turn, is generating more optimism about home prices and the overall market, according to Fannie Mae’s January 2015 National Housing Survey. Twenty-nine percent of consumers surveyed said their household income was significantly higher than it had been a year before and 48 percent of consumers said they expect their financial situation to improve in the next year.

“Consumers are as positive about their personal finances at the start of 2015 as they have been since we launched the National Housing Survey in 2010, and this optimism seems to be spilling over into housing market attitudes. Consumers are more optimistic about the environment both for buying and for selling a home today, and the share who plan to own on their next move has jumped back up, reversing a three-month trend toward renting.” – Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.

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