Consumer Sentiment Continues Climb:

The willingness to "pull the trigger" on a home purchase has more to do with how a home buyer feels about their own financial stability and their view of the economy than any other factor.

So, it is good news for the housing industry to see the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index continuing to climb upward from our lows of last summer.

The reading of 75.3 was a slight improvement from the prior month and the highest reading in a year. It also continues the trend of improving consumer sentiment since our lowest readings in August 2011.

A third of consumers spontaneously reported hearing about more job opportunities, the highest proportion ever recorded by the survey. The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly fell to a three-year low in January, stoking hopes the labor market is healing