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After several months in a row of overall positivity in regard to the status of the U.S. housing market, the American public seems to have done an about-face in July.

According to Mortgage News Daily, the percentage of respondents who believe now is a good time to sell a house dropped by a huge 7 percent. Similarly, those who believe it is a good time to buy dropped to an all-time low of 61 percent.

“Consumer attitudes toward housing slid back this month,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “The share of consumers who think it’s a good time to sell a home posted a sizable decrease from a record high in the prior month, even as home price change expectations strengthened. Deteriorating consumer assessments of income growth over the past year as well as increased caution around the direction of the economy and personal financial expectations may be contributing to the pullback in sentiment. Still, it is premature to read too much into this month’s results as the survey was taken around the time of increased global turmoil, including Greece’s potential default and China’s stock market plunge, which has receded somewhat. Most of our key indicators are as strong or stronger than they were at this time last year, which is indicative of an improving housing market this year.”

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The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to hand out $8.3 billion worth of profits to tax payers this quarter.

The companies, both based in the D.C. area, have been required to turn their profits over to the U.S. Treasury under the terms of the government bailout that rescued them during the Great Recession.

“We reported another strong quarter of financial performance with solid revenues and an impressive book of business that only continues to improve,” said Timothy Mayopoulos, chief executive of Fannie Mae.

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As the number of homes for sale nationwide continues to drop, much of the housing market is beginning to see a steep increase in asking prices. While the metro areas with the smallest inventories have experienced the greatest surge in prices, the trend is true for most of the country.

According to CoreLogic, their Home Price Index for June shows that home prices nationwide have shot up 6.5 percent from this time last year and that Colorado (+9.8 percent), Washington (+8.9 percent), New York (+8.3 percent), South Carolina (+8 percent) and Nevada (+8 percent) have experienced the highest home price appreciation during the same time period.

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Wells Fargo announced on Thursday that it has decided to begin winding down its marketing services and desk rental agreements with real estate firms, builders and other referral sources, effective immediately.

According to a press release issued by the company, it made its decision based on the increasing uncertainty surrounding the regulatory oversight of these types of arrangements, as well as “part of Wells Fargo’s ongoing efforts to simplify the profess that customers experience as they weigh all of their choices when shopping for a mortgage.”

“Because we value our strong relationships with real estate professionals and builders, the decision to exit these marketing services agreements was difficult, but we are taking this action to ensure that we continue to conduct our business in a way that represents the best interests of all of our customers and clients,” said Franklin Codel, Wells Fargo’s executive vice president for mortgage production. “We believe the best way to earn the relationship with real estate firms and builders is through timely, dependable service delivered by the best team in the business.”

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