Fannie Mae said in a monthly survey released this week that consumer’s confidence in the housing market is now at its lowest level since 2011, with both buyers and sellers increasingly pessimistic.
According to the survey, just 17% of respondents believe now is a good time to buy a home, down from 20% one month prior. However, the more telling statistic is that just 67% of sellers believe now is a good time to sell, down from 76% in June.
There are also far fewer consumers who think home prices will rise, with just 27% expressing optimism, down from 30% a month before.
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index comprises six factors – buying conditions, selling conditions, home price outlook, mortgage rate outlook, job loss concern and changes in household income. Overall, the index was down two points to 62.8 at the end of July. It’s down 13 points from the same month one year earlier, having hit an all-time high of 93.7 in the summer of 2019, prior to the pandemic.
“Unfavorable mortgage rates have been increasingly cited by consumers as a top reason behind the growing perception that it’s a bad time to buy, as well as sell, a home,” said Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Doug Duncan.