Prospective home buyers are currently terrified.
At least that is what you would assume from the May 2022 Home Purchase Sentiment readings that are published each month by Fannie Mae.
This sentiment index fell to 68.2 in May 2022 – and is inching nearer its 10-year- and pandemic-low of 67.5 in April 2020.
Surveyed consumers continue to express concerns about rising mortgage rates and falling housing affordability.
The percentage of people who said that now is a “good time to buy” fell to 17% in May – a new survey low – while 79% of respondents reported that it’s a bad time to buy a home – which was a new 10-year high.
Sentiment has been deteriorating since February 2021.
In the meantime, U.S. Home Prices Continue to
Rocket Higher at a Record-Setting Pace
Up 20.9% year-over-year in April 2022, annual price gains in U.S. homes once again hit another record high. (Source: CoreLogic).
So Who Do You Believe?
Do you believe what the pessimists in the survey are saying?
Or do you trust what you see, which seems to indicate that there is still more upside ahead for home prices?
Like I say in Chapter 9 of Timing the Real Estate Market: “Trust what you see, not what you think.”
::::::
“How I Stopped Worrying
and Learned to Love Inflation”