Consumers' hesitancy toward home buying persists amid affordability squeeze
Affordability constraints continue to hold back consumers from buying homes, according to the latest Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) report.
After hitting a record high in April, Fannie Mae’s HPSI index dwindled 1.2 points month over month and 2.6 points year over year to 65.6 in May. Fannie Mae cited affordability hurdles, including high home prices and mortgage rates, as the reason for the decline.
While the component polling respondents’ belief that it’s a “good time to buy” remained near its survey low, the “good time to sell” component rose to its highest level since July 2022. More people also expect home prices and mortgage rates to increase in the next 12 months.
“Consumers also indicated that they don’t expect these affordability constraints to improve in the near future, with significant majorities thinking that both home prices and mortgage rates will either increase or remain the same over the next year,” said Fannie Mae deputy chief economist Mark Palim.
HPSI component highlights:
- The net share of respondents who said it’s a good time to buy a home was down seven percentage points month over month to 19%.
- The net share of consumers who said it is a good time to sell a home grew eight percentage points month over month to 65%.
- The net share of respondents who said home prices will rise in the next 12 months increased six percentage points to 39%.
- The net share of consumers who said mortgage rates will go down over the next year declined five percentage points to 19%.
- The net share of respondents who said they are not concerned about losing their job in the next year dipped three percentage points month over month to 77%.
- The net share of Americans who said their household income is significantly higher than a year ago fell five percentage points month over month to 20%.
Palim noted that the same factors impacting affordability may also be affecting the perceived ease of getting a mortgage. As of June 2, overall mortgage applications dropped 1.4%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
“This was particularly true among renters: 81% believe it would be difficult to get a mortgage today, matching a survey high,” he said.
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