By Sabrina Karl
The number of Americans who think it’s a good time to buy or sell a home has climbed substantially since setting near-record lows set in the spring, according to Fannie Mae.
The June survey results signal that after home buying and selling activity were dramatically suppressed by the coronavirus pandemic, the summer home buying season is now kicking off with big strides.
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index measures homeowners’ and renters’ responses to whether they think it’s a good time to buy or sell a home, their expectations on home prices and mortgage rates, and their feelings about job security and household income.
After dropping a dramatic 29.5 points in March and April, the HPSI clawed back 4.5 points in May and now another 9 points in June. The index is now at 76.5 versus April’s near-record low of 63. Still, the new reading is 15 points below last year’s June index.
Respondents saying it’s a good time to buy rose from 52% in May to 61% in June, and the share indicating they think timing is bad dropped from 39% to 27%. The resulting net positive change in sentiment is 21 percentage points.
The feeling that it’s a good time to sell also increased. With those saying sales timing is good increasing from 32% to 41%, and those saying it’s a bad time decreasing from 62% to 48%, the net impact is a positive gain in selling sentiment of 23 percentage points.
Expectations that home prices will rise were also up (a net increase of 18 points), as was household income (a net 10% say their income is better now than a year ago). However, June feelings of job security were down slightly (net 3%) and the expectation of lower mortgage rates was down a net 10%.