A growing number of homeowners agree that now is a good time to sell a home, according to the quarterly Housing Opportunities and Market Experience survey from the National Association of Realtors.
But despite the increase in homeowners saying now is a good time to sell, the survey also found fewer renters think now is a good time to buy a home.
During the second quarter, 71% of homeowners answered that now is a good time to sell, up from last quarter’s 69% and last year’s 61%. And respondents who said now is a good time to sell in the Midwest surpassed those in the West with 76% compared to 72% for the first time this quarter.
“There are just not enough homeowners deciding to sell because they’re either content where they are, holding off until they build more equity, or hesitant seeing as it will be difficult to find an affordable home to buy,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “As a result, inventory conditions have worsened and are restricting sales from breaking out while contributing to price appreciation that remains far above income growth.”
“Perhaps this notable uptick in seller confidence will translate to more added inventory later this year,” Yun said. “Low housing turnover is one of the roots of the ongoing supply and affordability problems plaguing many markets.”
Renters, however, have a much less favorable outlook on the housing market as competition increases, and they don’t have a home to sell before buying a new one. The survey showed 52% of renters think now is a good time to buy a home, down from 56% in the first quarter and 62% last year.
This is compared to 80% of homeowners, unchanged from last quarter and last year, who say now is a good time to buy a home.
Optimism in the housing market isn’t the only metric to fall as the first-quarter surge in economic optimism proved to be short-lived. The share of Americans who said the economy is improving dropped to 54% in the second quarter after hitting a survey high of 62% in the first quarter.
Americans are also less optimistic about their personal finances as those who said their financial situation will improve in six months fell to 57.2 in June after seeing its all-time high in March. It is also down slightly from last year’s 57.7.
“It should come as little surprise that the confidence reading among renters has fallen every month since January, 64.8, and currently sits at its lowest level, 53.8, since tracking began in March 2015, 65.7,” Yun said. “Paying more in rent each year and seeing home prices outpace their incomes is discouraging, and it’s unfortunately pushing home ownership further away, especially for those living in expensive metro areas on the East and West Coast.”
