Confidence in housing was subdued in December in the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI), derived from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS). The HPSI overall posted 85.8 in December, two percentage points lower than the month prior.
“Consumers remained cautious in their housing outlook at the end of 2017, as tax reform discussions continued,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist and senior vice president at Fannie Mae. “In December, mirroring the other major consumer sentiment benchmarks, the HPSI reflected this caution and declined slightly.”
The share of homebuyers surveyed for the Index who believe now is a good time to buy fell five percentage points to 24 percent, while the share of sellers who believe now is a good time to sell stayed the same at 34 percent. The share of those who believe home prices will go up fell two percentage points to 44 percent.
Source: Fannie Mae
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