Talking Points
- Surging mortgage rates, dwindling inventory, and soaring home prices are taking a toll on Americans’ attitudes toward ownership, according to a survey released Monday.
- The home purchase sentiment index compiled by mortgage finance provider Fannie Mae fell in December, its fifth straight monthly decline.
- Fannie’s index has six components. In December, two were lower compared to November, two were unchanged, and two increased. But the index was 2.5 percentage points lower than a year ago, with only one component higher.
- The surge in consumer sentiment that’s been recorded since the presidential election is typical, Fannie Chief Economist Doug Duncan noted in a statement, and whether buyers can withstand the corresponding jump in mortgage rates is an open question.
- In fact, it was the second yearly decline for the component that tracks the number of people who say it’s a good time to buy. That was a net 36 percent in December 2014, a net 35 percent in December 2015, and a net 32 percent last month.