Fannie Mae’s latest monthly housing survey found that consumer sentiment remains low. In August, 66 percent of respondents said it was a good time to sell a home, while just 18 percent said it was a good time to buy.
Effectively unchanged from the month earlier, only 18 percent of consumers expect mortgage rates to decline in the next 12 months.
“Mortgage rates once again breached the 7 percent mark in August, hitting a 22-year high and doing no favors for consumer sentiment,” Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan said. “Consumers remain pessimistic toward the housing market in general and homebuying conditions in particular.”
Duncan continued by noting that the agency doesn’t expect to see consumer confidence to improve much in the near future.