A new survey out from LendingTree found that most Americans aren’t optimistic about the housing market—and some are even hoping for a downturn in the form of a crash. Analysis finds that with more than 2,000 U.S. Consumers surveyed, 44 percent think the housing market is at risk of crashing in the next year, while 35 percent of Americans want the market to crash.
And while 51 percent of homeowners don’t want the market to burst, 15 percent of them say they want a crash to lower their property taxes and 15 percent believe it would lead to future stability.
Some 32 percent of non-homeowners believe a crash is their only way to eventually own a home, but that rises to 39 percent among Gen Zers and 38 percent among millennials who don’t own.
“Right now, home prices are high, as are mortgage rates. With that in mind, I can understand why some might wish for a housing crash that brings lower prices,” said LendingTree Senior Economist Jacob Channel. “Unfortunately, if the national housing market were to crash, odds are that it would bring down the rest of the economy with it.”
Separately, 79 percent of survey respondents expect mortgage rates to rise for at least another year, with 53 percent of this group believing rates will rise for over a year or longer. Regardless of how long they expect rates to rise, though, 27 percent of Americans believe mortgage rates will be 8 percent or higher a year from now.