Consumer confidence in the housing market has hit a new all-time high, according to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index. The index rose 5.6 percentage points in February to 88.3, a record reading. Five of the six components measured by the survey hit record highs as well, including the share of Americans who say now is a good time to buy and those who are feeling more secure about their job.
Fannie Mae’s survey of 1,000 Americans showed a rosy backdrop for the housing market as it heads into the spring buying season.
“The latest post-election surge in optimism puts the HPSI at its highest level since its starting point in 2011,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “Millennials showed especially strong increases in job confidence and income gains, a necessary precursor for increased housing demand from first-time home buyers. Preliminary research results from our team find that millennials are accelerating the rate at which they move out of their parents’ homes and form new households. However, continued slow supply growth implies continued strong price appreciation and affordability constraints facing millennials and first-time buyers in many markets.”
Here is a closer look at findings from Fannie Mae’s latest reading from its Home Purchase Sentiment Index:
- The share of Americans who say now is a good time to purchase a home increased 11 percentage points to 40 percent, marking a strong rebound from last month’s survey low.
- Twenty-two percent say now is a good time to sell, up 7 percentage points from last month, and a new survey high.
- Forty-five percent of Americans believe that home prices will go up, increasing by 3 percentage points.
- Seventy-eight percent of Americans say they are not concerned about losing their job, a 9 percentage point month-over-month increase, and a new a new survey high.
- Nineteen percent of Americans say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, also a new survey high.
Source: Fannie Mae
