Fannie Mae: Home Purchase Sentiment Up

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) took a 5.5-point leap from February to March to 89.8, its highest level since June 2018. On a year-over-year basis, the HPSI is up by 1.5 points.

 

According to the HPSI data, the net share of Americans who say it is a good time to buy a home increased seven percentage points to 22 percent on a monthly measurement but is down 10 percentage points from the same time last year. The net share of those who say it is a good time to sell a home increased 13 percentage points to 43 percent from February to March and is up four percentage points from March 2018. The net share of those who say home prices will go up increased five percentage points to 38 percent on a monthly measurement, down four percentage points on an annualized tracking. And the net share of Americans who say mortgage rates will go down over the next 12 months increased seven percentage points to -45 percent in a monthly measurement, and is up seven percentage points from the same time last year.

 

“A brighter housing market outlook drove this month’s increase in the HPSI–a welcome sign from consumers as we enter the spring and summer homebuying seasons,” said Doug Duncan, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae. “The results further corroborate the positive effect of falling mortgage rates on affordability, which we expect will help support a rebound in home sales.”

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