National Housing Survey
Consumer Housing Sentiment Down Year over Year for First Time Since 2023
Pessimism Toward Mortgage Rates and Personal Financial Situations Grows
March 7, 2025
The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) decreased 1.8 points in February to 71.6, driven largely by consumers’ increased pessimism that mortgage rates will go down in the next year. The share of consumers who say it is a good time to buy a home inched up last month to 24%, while the share who say it is a good time to sell dipped to 62%. February also saw a notable decline in consumers’ optimism toward their personal financial situation, including household income and concern they could lose their job. Year over year, the HPSI is down 1.2 points.
"In February, the HPSI saw its first year-over-year decline in nearly two years, which was mostly due to a shrinking share of consumers expressing optimism about the direction of mortgage rates,” said Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “This growing pessimism makes sense, as mortgage rates had remained near the 7% threshold for a few months, including when we fielded this survey. The decline in sentiment was further impacted by consumers’ growing concerns about their own personal financial situations. While some consumers may be slowly acclimating to the higher mortgage rate environment, the vast majority continue to believe it is a ‘bad time’ to buy a home – with high home prices cited as the primary sticking point. We continue to expect home sales activity to remain relatively light over our forecast horizon due to the ongoing lack of supply and overall unaffordability.”
On the right rail of this webpage, you will find a news release with highlights from the HPSI and National Housing Survey results, the latest Data Release highlighting the consumer attitudinal indicators, month-over-month key indicator data, an overview and white paper about the HPSI, technical notes providing in-depth information about the National Housing Survey methodology, the questionnaire used for the survey, and a comparative assessment of Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey and other consumer surveys.
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