Homebuyers Starting to Feel a Little Better About the Housing Market

With available inventory slowly increasing and the bidding wars seemingly beginning to dissipate, it appears that prospective homebuyers are starting to feel a small sense of relief.

According to Fannie Mae’s latest Home Purchase Sentiment Index, a view into how consumers feel about the housing market based on a national survey, the number of people who think that now is a good time to buy a house is on the rise.

The survey showed that 32% of respondents said that now was a good time to buy a home. While that number may not seem that high (and it’s not, historically speaking), it’s still 4% above where it was in July.

Fannie Mae Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Mark Palim notes that this is the first time that figure has risen since March.

That means that homebuyers’ view of the housing market is starting to improve, although the majority of respondents still think that it’s a bad time to buy.

Overall, the HPSI declined by a miniscule margin in August, with most respondents stating that it is still a good time to sell a home.

"The HPSI remained relatively flat this month, suggesting to us that the continued strength of demand for housing and favorable home-selling conditions may be offsetting broader concerns about the Delta variant and inflation that have negatively impacted other consumer confidence indices," Palim said.

"Most consumers continue to report that it's a good time to sell a home – but a bad time to buy – and they most frequently cite high home prices and a lack of supply as their primary rationale,” Palim added.

“However, the 'good time to buy' component, while still near a survey low, did tick up for the first time since March, perhaps owing in part to the favorable mortgage rate environment and growing expectations that home price growth will begin to moderate over the next twelve months," Palim concluded.