(Bloomberg) -- The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index, which measures views toward owning and renting a house, rose 0.6 point to 92.3 in May to a fresh all-time survey high.
Against a backdrop of elevated property values, more Americans on net said that now is a good time to sell, while the share who said it was a good time to buy was little changed. The net share of those who said selling conditions were good increased to 46 percent in May, up 14 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Fannie Mae data.
“The perception of high home prices that underlies this optimism cuts both ways, boosting not only the good-time-to-sell sentiment but also the view that it's a bad time to buy, and presenting a potential dilemma for repeat buyers,” Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, said in a statement.
In additional survey highlights:
- On average, Americans expect rental prices to rise 4.6 percent over the next 12 months, down 1.1 percentage points from a survey high in April
- Home prices are expected to rise 3.5 percent over the next 12 months, down 0.4 percentage point
- At least half of consumers expressed that the economy is on the right track for the seventh straight month
- A record 89 percent of employed respondents are not concerned about losing their job
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vince Golle at vgolle@bloomberg.net
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