Consumer confidence in US housing market hits new all-time low

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Consumer confidence in the US housing market hit a new all-time low in October, the government-sponsored Fannie Mae said in a report on Monday.

Fannie Mae said its Home Purchase Sentiment Index fell 4.1 points in October to 56.7, marking its eighth consecutive monthly decline and plummeting to its lowest reading since the beginning of the index in 2011.

"Only 16% of respondents indicated that now is a good time to buy a home – a new survey low – while the percentage who believe now is a good time to sell a home decreased sharply from 59% to 51% in October," the report said.

Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Doug Duncan noted that the housing market is expected to continue cooling in the months ahead.

"Consumers are increasingly pessimistic about both homebuying and home-selling conditions. Amid persistently high home prices and unfavorable mortgage rates, the ‘bad time to buy' component increased to a new survey high this month, while the ‘good time to sell' component continued its downward trend," he explained.

The percentage of respondents in the survey who believe that mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months dropped from 9% to 6%, while the percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up rose from 64% to 65%.