Americans are more confident about their housing prospects than ever before, with more believing now is “a good time” to buy or sell a home, according to the just-released Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI), which hit high point after high point in February.
“The latest post-election surge in optimism puts the HPSI at its highest level since its starting point in 2011,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist and senior vice president at Fannie Mae. “Millennials showed especially strong increases in job confidence and income gains—a necessary precursor for increased housing demand from first-time homebuyers.”
The Index registered an all-time high, 88.3, in February. Forty percent of Americans surveyed in the Index believe now is a good time to buy a home, up 11 points from January, while 22 percent believe now is a good time to sell, up 7 points to an Index high. Seventy-eight percent—another Index high—believe they are secure in their jobs, and 19 percent—still, another Index high—report “significantly higher” incomes in the past year.
Forty-five percent, at the same time, believe home prices will rise.
“Preliminary research results from our team find that millennials are accelerating the rate at which they move out of their parents’ homes and form new households; however, continued slow supply growth implies continued strong price appreciation and affordability constraints facing millennials and first-time buyers in many markets,” Duncan says.
Source: Fannie Mae
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