The percentage of consumers who believe it is a good time to buy dropped to 61%, an all-time survey low, right as summer is about to come to a close.
According to the July Housing Survey from Fannie Mae, consumer attitudes toward the home-buying environment stumbled last month despite positive home-price change expectations.
And the share of consumers who believe now is a good time to sell a home didn’t fare too much better, dropping 7 percentage points to 45%.
“Deteriorating consumer assessments of income growth over the past year as well as increased caution around the direction of the economy and personal financial expectations may be contributing to the pullback in sentiment,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
“Still, it is premature to read too much into this month’s results as the survey was taken around the time of increased global turmoil, including Greece’s potential default and China’s stock market plunge, which has receded somewhat. Most of our key indicators are as strong or stronger than they were at this time last year, which is indicative of an improving housing market this year,” he explained.
A recent Redfin report said that summer falls as the third busiest home-selling season, after spring and winter.
The Fannie survey stated that more consumers are reporting a negative outlook regarding personal finances and the direction of the economy.
The share of consumers saying the economy is on the wrong track rose by three percentage points to 54% in July.
What’s more is that those who expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next year fell to 44%.
Those reporting a significantly lower income compared to 12 months ago increased to 15% — marking the first change in this indicator in three months.
