Consumer confidence in housing ties peak set in June

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® tied an all-time high in September, hitting 88.3.

This matched the previous high set in June of this year, and increased 0.3 percent from the previous month. The HPSI is up 5.5 points compared to September 2016. Americans who believe now is a good time to buy a home increased 10 percent in September, hitting 28 percent. Those who believe now is a good time to sell also rose, reaching 38 percent, an increase of 2 percent. Additionally, the percentage of Americans who said they were not concerned about losing their job rose to 75 percent, a 1 percent increase. And less Americans believe home prices will rise, only 40 percent reported they think so, a decrease of 8 percent.

However, less Americans believe mortgage rates will go down over the next year, and only 15 percent of respondents said their income was significantly higher than it was a year ago. But 50 percent of Americans anticipate their financial situation will get better over the next year.

As for prices, respondents predict rental prices will rise 4.4 percent over the next year, while they anticipate home prices to increase 2.7 percent over the next year.

“Details in the survey showed a meaningful pickup in the good time to buy component, especially from the renter respondents,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Additionally, perceptions of easing inventory helped boost the net share saying that now is a good time to buy, which is consistent with less bullish home price appreciation sentiment during the month. Overall, we believe that the devastating impacts of the hurricanes will likely weigh on home sales in coming months, posing downside risks for our forecast, which already calls for only a modest gain in home sales this year.”