The New Year started on a positive note for home purchase consumer sentiment according to Fannie Mae, with the Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) increasing 1.2 points to 84.7. The higher HPSI is due in part to an 8% rise in the net share of Americans with higher household income compared to January 2018.
Here are four additional takeaways from the report:
• 15% of Americans say it is a good time to buy a home, an increase of 4% from December 2018 and decrease of 12% from January 2018.
• Roughly one-third of Americans say it is a good time to sell, down 3% from January 2018.
• 30% of Americans anticipate that home prices will appreciate, down 22% from January 2018.
• 73% of Americans say they are not concerned about losing their job (unchanged from January 2018).
The HPSI distills data on consumers’ views and expectations of housing market conditions into a single number. It’s based on Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey, which polls 1,000 Americans.