Housing News

Is it a Good Time to Sell Your House? People Certainly Seem to Think So

Given that inventory has never been lower and prices have never been higher, it's probably not a surprise that more people are realizing that now is a good time to sell their house.

According to a new report from Fannie Mae, consumers had a "significantly more positive" opinion on selling their home in January than they did in December.

That insight comes courtesy of Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index, a view into how consumers feel about the housing market based on a national survey.

According to Fannie Mae, the HPSI rose in January over December, with the bulk of the increase coming from people's view of home-selling conditions.

The report showed that the percentage of survey respondents who said that it was a good time to sell rose from 50% in December to 57% in January, meaning more than half of those surveyed think it's a good time to sell a house.

As for the share of respondents who think now is a good time to buy, that figure remained static at 52%.

According to Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Doug Duncan, much of the increase in optimism about selling a house came from "lower-income and renter" groups.

"We will pay close attention to see if this newfound optimism develops into a trend, which could indicate either that some demographics who have been more negatively impacted by the pandemic may be starting to feel the economic recovery or that this is a response to the additional stimulus enacted in December," Duncan said.

"Overall, the index's monthly increase was driven largely by a substantial jump in the share of consumers reporting that it's a good time to sell a home, with many citing favorable mortgage rates, high home prices, and low housing inventory as their primary rationale, Duncan added.

"Among owners and higher income groups, however, the other five components of the index remained relatively flat or slightly negative, suggesting to us that some consumers are waiting to gauge the effectiveness of any new fiscal policies and vaccination distribution programs on both housing and the larger economy," Duncan concluded.