Americans' confidence in the housing market improved in May, with about 40% of those polled saying now is a good time to sell a house, compared to 30% in April and 16% a year ago, according to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey.
Similarly, the number of Americans who say now is a good time to buy a house increased to 76%, up from 71% in April.
Of the 1,002 Americans surveyed, 46% say it would be easy for them to get a mortgage, while 50% believe it would be difficult to get a mortgage.
The average 12-month home price change expectation jumped to 3.9%, the highest level since the survey's inception three years ago. About 55% of those surveyed say home prices will increase in the next 12 months, while only 7% say home prices will go down, the lowest level since the survey's inception. The share of respondents who say mortgage rates will go up increased 3 percentage points to 46%, while those who say rates will go down hit a survey low of 5%.
‘This jump [in confidence] may foreshadow a gradual return to more normal levels of housing supply from their lows of recent months,’ said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, in a release. ‘In turn, increased housing supply could serve to temper increasing consumer home price expectations. We will closely watch the potential impact of rising mortgage rates on consumer housing sentiment in the coming months.’