The spring buying season appears to have given consumers a boost in sentiment that now is a good time for the housing market
The spring buying season appears to have given consumers a boost in sentiment that now is a good time for the housing market.
The net share of those who think now is a good time to buy rose 10 percentage points in the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index. The net share of those who think it’s a good time to sell rose 3 percentage points.
Overall sentiment was up with the index rising 2.5 points to 88.3 in March compared to February, and up 3.8 points since March 2017.
The net share of those who think prices will go up over the next 12 months was down 3 percentage points while the net share of those who expect mortgage rates to go down over that time period rose 5 percentage points.
“The HPSI's recent run of volatility continued in March, as it recovered last month's loss and remained within the five-point range of the past twelve months," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "The primary driver of this month's increase was the sizable rise in the net share of consumers who think it's a good time to buy a home, which returned the indicator to its year-ago level."
There was no month-over-month change in net share of those who are concerned about job security, or who said their income was significantly higher than a year ago.
