According to the results of Fannie Mae’s January 2014 National Housing Survey, 65 percent of Americans say now is a good time to buy a house. And, though that number fell 2 percent from the month before, paired with an increasingly positive view of the economy, housing, and mortgage market, it indicates an improvement in Americans’ perception of current economic conditions. In fact, the share of consumers who believe the economy is on the right track was up 8 percent from last month. Also, a majority of participants said they felt it would be easy for them to get a mortgage, the first time in the survey’s three-and-a-half-year history. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist, said the gradual upward trend in this indicator bodes well for the housing recovery and may be contributing to this month’s increase in the percentage of consumers who said they intend to buy rather than rent their next home. The share of respondents who said they would buy hit an all-time survey high of 70 percent. Conversely, the number who said they would prefer to rent also set a record, falling to a new low of 26 percent. More here.