Consumer Confidence in Housing Hits All Time High

Consumer confidence in housing is at an all-time high, with millennials posting strong increases in confidence, per new data from Fannie Mae.

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HSPI) spiked by 5.6 percentage points last month to 88.3, the highest it’s been since Fannie started keeping records. Five of the HPSI’s six components were up, with three hitting all-time highs.

The net share of Americans who believe that now is a good time to buy a home spiked by 11 percentage points, while the share who believe it’s a good time to sell rose seven percentage points. The share of Americans who report a significant increase in their household income rose by four percentage points. Consumers were also more confident about keeping their jobs, according to Fannie Mae.

More Americans also expect their homes’ prices to go up, with the net share rising three percentage points. The percentage of people who think mortgage rates will go down, however, held steady for the third consecutive month.

“The latest post-election surge in optimism puts the HPSI at its highest level since its starting point in 2011. Millennials showed especially strong increases in job confidence and income gains, a necessary precursor for increased housing demand from first-time homebuyers,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “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.”