Americans pessimistic about economy, home prices, household finances

Fannie Mae’s September National Housing Survey found that Americans are still very pessimistic about the economy, home prices, and household finances.  Findings also demonstrate that consumers are paying close attention to economic news and what policymakers are saying, and continue to link their personal financial situations with the current macro-economic environment.

“The lack of a sense of urgency to buy homes, given expectations for further declines in home prices and continued low mortgage rates, coupled with general pessimism regarding their own personal finances and the economy, bodes poorly for the recovery of the housing market,” said Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.

Highlights of survey include:

Americans noted a very large decline in their expectation for mortgage rates in September, with only 33 percent saying that mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months (down 12 percentage points since August – the lowest number on record).
For the fourth consecutive month, Americans expect home prices to decline over the next year. On average, Americans expect home prices to go down by 1.1 percent, the highest expected decline to date. 
Only 18 percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months (the lowest reported number to date in the National Housing Survey), while 25 percent say they expect home prices to decline (down by 2 percentage points since August).
While 68 percent of Americans say it is a good time to buy a home (down 1 percentage point since last month), only 10 percent of those polled say it is a good time to sell one’s home (up by 1 percentage point since August).
Despite continued consumer caution about taking on a large financial obligation to buy a home, 63 percent say they would buy their next home if they were going to move (up by 1 percentage point since August), while 32 percent of Americans say they would rent their next home (down 2 percentage points since last month).
The number of Americans who expect their personal financial situation to worsen over the next year has decreased for the first time in four months (down from 22 percent in August to 19 percent in September).