The HPSI is down 9 points year-over-year.

Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) dropped 11.7 points in March to 80.8—the lowest reading since December 2016. Five of the six HPSI components declined month-over-month, including the number of consumers concerned about losing their job over the next year. Fannie Mae says consumers also reported homebuying and selling conditions have worsened and they have a “more pessimistic” view of home-price growth. The HPSI is down 9 points year-over-year. Doug Duncan, SVP and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, said attitudes about the current home-selling environment have “deteriorated” and have fallen to their lowest level since January 2017. “A survey record one-month drop in optimism about the direction of the economy appears to have weakened consumers’ views of both the current home-selling and homebuying environment, though the latter is likely buffered in part by low interest rates,” Duncan said. “When asked why it’s a bad time to buy or sell a home, approximately 7% of consumers offered COVID-19 as an unprompted response, one of the highest percentages of non-standard answers in the survey’s history. We expect these developments to weigh heavily on housing activity during the spring/summer homebuying season.” The share of Americans who believe now is a good time to buy fell from 59% to 56%, while the percentage of Americans who believe now is a bad time to buy increased to 36% from 32%. In regard to home prices, the number of Americans who say home prices will go up over the next year fell from 47% to 39%. The share of consumers who believe home prices will stay the same fell to 32% from 38%. A large increase was reported on whether Americans believe interest rates will go down over the next year, rising from 8% to 20% in March. Those who believe rates will go up rose one percentage point to 39%.

Source: MReport