Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index reported that consumers believe that it is the best time to sell a home but also a bad time to purchase one. The overall Index remained mostly unchanged for June 2021, decreased just 0.3 points to 79.7.
According to the Index, on the buy-side, 64% of respondents said it's a bad time to buy a home, up from 56% last month; while on the sell-side, 77% of respondents said it's a good time to sell, up from 67% last month. The components more closely associated with household finances were largely flat month over month but remain elevated compared to this time last year, particularly the component regarding job security.
“The HPSI remained flat this month, although its underlying buy and sell components continued to diverge, setting record positive and negative readings, respectively,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae senior vice president and chief economist. “Consumers also continued to cite high home prices as the predominant reason for their ongoing and significant divergence in sentiment toward homebuying and home-selling conditions. While all surveyed segments have expressed greater negativity toward homebuying over the last few months, renters who say they are planning to buy a home in the next few years have demonstrated an even steeper decline in homebuying sentiment than homeowners. It's likely that affordability concerns are more greatly affecting those who aspire to be first-time homeowners than other consumer segments who have already established homeownership.”
The report revealed that 6% of consumers believe mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months, 57% of respondents believe that mortgage rates will increase and 30% of respondents believe that mortgage rates will stay the same.
Read more about consumer's expectations for the housing market in Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index.
