Confidence in the Housing Market Hits Five Year High

MarketWatch reports that consumer sentiment about buying and selling homes is at a five year high, despite lagging home sales.

The analysis comes from Pulsenomics Housing Confidence Index, which found that “confidence, as measured by the Composite 20 index of the largest metro areas, hit a 5-year high of 71.65 in the first quarter. Any index reading over 50 signals improvement.”

The economy — wage growth, specifically — has finally improved enough to make consumers confident about homeownership, Loebs said in an interview, even as media attention on the flagging housing market last year gave hope to some wannabe buyers. Lower mortgage rates since the start of 2019 are also helping.

Sales of previously-owned homes have fallen in three out of four months this year, although new-home sales are running about 7% higher than last year’s pace. Meanwhile, home prices accelerated in April for the first time in a year.

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