Market update June 8, 2015: Fannie Mae’s Housing Survey, best/worst places to retire and more

Fannie Mae released results from its May 2015 National Housing Survey:

• 12-month average home price change expectation remained at 2.8 percent.
• Respondents who said home prices will rise in the next 12 months comprised 49 percent of the total.
• Respondents who said home prices will fall comprised 6 percent of the total.
• Respondents who said mortgage rates will rise in the next 12 months comprised 47 percent of the total.

• 66 percent of respondents said it’s a good time to buy a house.
• 49 percent of respondents said it’s a good time to sell a house.
• Respondents who think it would be easy to get a home mortgage comprised 50 percent of the total.
• Respondents who think it would be difficult to get a home mortgage comprised 46 percent of the total.
• Respondents who said they would buy if they were to move comprised 66 percent of the total.
• Respondents who said they would rent if they were to move comprised 27 percent of the total.
• The average price change of a 12-month rental was 4.3 percent.
• Respondents who expect home rental prices to rise comprised 55 percent.

• Respondents who said the economy is on the right track comprised 38 percent.
• Respondents who said the economy is on the wrong track comprised 52 percent.
• 12 percent of respondents said they expect their personal financial situation to get worse during the next year.
• 28 percent of respondents said their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago.
• 31 percent of respondents said their household expenses are significantly higher than they were 12 months ago.

New research from Bankrate.com ranked the best and worst places to retire in the U.S.:

Best:

1. Phoenix metro area (including Mesa and Scottsdale)
2. Arlington/Alexandria, Virginia
3. Prescott, Arizona
4. Tucson, Arizona
5. Des Moines, Iowa
6. Denver (including Aurora)
7. Austin, Texas (including Round Rock)
8. Cape Coral, Florida (including Ft. Myers)
9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
10. Franklin, Tennessee

Worst:

1. New York City
2. Little Rock, Arkansas (including North Little Rock and Conway)
3. New Haven, Connecticut (including Milford, Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford)
4. Buffalo, New York (including Rochester, Niagara Falls and Cheektowaga)
5. Newark, New Jersey
6. Albany, New York (including Troy and Schenectady)
7. Hartford, Connecticut (including East and West Hartford)
8. Oakland, California
9. Indianapolis
10. Cleveland

Black Knight Financial Services’ Mortgage Monitor Report:

• Approximately 952,000 borrowers have mortgages that are 90 or more days past due, but not yet in foreclosure.
• 62 percent of these borrowers are in some form of a home retention program (such as loan modification and repayment plans).
• For those in active foreclosure, 53 percent of borrowers are in a home retention program.
• About 70 percent of all new trial modifications and repayment plans have been through one or more home retention actions in the past.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported:

• 264,000 apartment units were completed in 2014.
• 36 percent of those — 96,000 units — were smaller than 1,000 square feet. The median unit size was 1,080 square feet.
• One-bedroom apartments comprised 42 percent of all units. Two-bedroom apartments comprised 41 percent.

Email market updates to press@inman.com.