Confidence in the home-selling market hits peak

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index saw a 2.1 percent increase in June, tying the all-time high of 88.3, which was set in February this year.

Americans are feeling pretty positive about the housing market. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported that now is a good time to sell, an increase of 7 percent and an all-time survey high. Thirty percent of respondents said now is a good time to buy a home, up 3 percent.

“The June HPSI reading matches the previous record set in February and reflects the trend toward a sellers’ market that respondents indicated last month,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Consumers are also growing more optimistic about their ability to get a mortgage, and lenders expect credit standards to ease further going forward, as shown in our Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey. While consumer optimism on this metric is as high as we’ve seen in the survey’s seven-year history, it’s worth noting that this record is relative to the fairly tight standards in place post-crisis when we started collecting National Housing Survey data. Nevertheless, in the face of very tight housing supply, easing credit standards may fail to have the desired effect and could have the unintended consequence of fueling further house price increases.”

However, more Americans believe home prices will continue to rise, as 46 percent predict housing will become more expensive. But less Americans (66 percent) are concerned with job loss, and 17 percent reported their household income is significantly higher than it was at the same time last year. Additionally, more believe that mortgage rates will go down over the next year.