Fannie Mae: Homebuying Confidence at an All-Time Low

More than 80% of Americans think it is a “bad” time to buy a home, a new Fannie Mae National Housing Survey finds.

The survey, released Monday, found 82% believe it is a “bad time” to buy a house in July compared to 78% in June.

The monthly survey, launched in 2010, tracks attitudes on home ownership and renting, according to the organization.

It is conducted by telephone with around 1,000 American adults who make financial decisions in households during the first three weeks of the month and is usually released around the 7^th of the following month and has a margin of error of around plus or minus 0.4 or fewer percentage points.

Even though those surveyed expressed optimism in their personal financial outlook, rising home prices, and interest rates have kept them sour on entering the housing market.

“While consumers are reporting confidence in the components related to their personal financial situations, it’s unlikely we’ll see housing sentiment catch up to other broader economic confidence measures until there is meaningful improvement to home purchase affordability,” Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae senior vice president, and chief economist said in a press release announcing the findings Monday.

“In July, a significant majority of consumers indicated that their jobs are stable and that their incomes are the same or better than they were 12 months ago. However, homebuying sentiment once again matched its all-time low, with only 18% telling us that it’s a good time to buy a home.”

The survey also found 36% of current homeowners are less likely to sell in the current market, unchanged from the results in June’s survey.

“Unsurprisingly, consumers continue to attribute the challenging conditions to high home prices and unfavorable mortgage rates,” Duncan said. “Further, the share of consumers expecting home prices to continue to rise has also been on a steady climb since March, which may only add to perceptions of unaffordability. Additionally, we have not seen much movement in the ‘good time to sell’ component over the last few months, an indication that the current low levels of existing homes for sale will likely continue to persist in the near term, as also reflected in our latest forecast.”

The survey found 41% believe that home prices will continue to rise, compared to 36% in June, with decreases in both those who say prices will stay the same, 37% to 34%, and prices will drop from 26% to 24% compared to the June results.