Mortgage lenders are growing increasingly optimistic that demand for mortgages for home purchases will remain strong over the next three months. Fannie Mae's second quarter 2015 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey showed more lenders are reporting credit loosening and there's a strong demand from borrowers for home purchase loans.

Read more: Mortgage Lenders Say Credit Is Easing

The latest results solidify a rosier outlook for housing, Fannie Mae economists note. "We expect a continued housing expansion in 2015, after an uneven and disappointing 2014," says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist.

The survey showed that senior mortgage executives are increasingly optimistic, and significantly more optimistic than consumers about future home prices. The share of lenders expecting home prices to rise over the next 12 months reached a survey high of 70 percent in the second quarter.

What's more, the share of lenders reporting an increase in mortgage purchase demand over the prior three months reached a survey high for GSE-eligible and government loans, 77 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

"This quarter’s results showed that the growing optimism of lenders has been rewarded," says Duncan. "The share of lenders reporting increased purchase mortgage demand over the prior three months reached a survey high for both GSE-eligible and government loans. At the same time, the positive gap grows between lenders reporting loosening or maintaining existing credit standards, relative to those reporting tightening. While not matching first quarter 2015 levels, the profit margin and purchase mortgage demand expectations over the next three months remain above the 2014 readings."

Source: Fannie Mae