The MReport Webcast: Tuesday 9/9/2014

Another downturn in consumer attitudes has spurred analysts at Fannie Mae to rein in their outlook for the housing market in 2015. Despite economic strides made in the last few months, the company's latest National Housing Survey found Americans' outlook toward housing deteriorated in August for a second straight month, pointing to a more modest recovery next year than analysts might have hoped. Fannie Mae’s chief economist, Doug Duncan, explained that the softening in consumer attitudes reflects the combination of declining home affordability and weak income growth nationwide.

Asked about their home price expectations over the next year, consumers surveyed in the company's latest poll forecast an average 2.1 percent growth, down from 2-point-3 percent in July's survey. Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who expect prices to actually rise over the next 12 months was steady at 42 percent, while the percentage of those expecting depreciation climbed to 9 percent. All in all, 64 percent of Americans surveyed said now is a good time to buy a home, matching the all-time survey low.

Profits at independent mortgage banks nationwide jumped from the first quarter to the second as loan production spiked, according to a trend report from business advisory firm Richey May & Company. Richey May's report, released Monday, shows loan production among independent mortgage bankers climbed 50 percent in the second quarter, marking the first increase of the past three quarters. While the second quarter looked good in terms of percentages, production and profits were both coming off low level from the first quarter. At that time, Richey May reported an 18 percent quarterly decline in production levels, leaving lenders scrambling to compensate for the drop in business.