Homeowners Unsure of Housing Market’s Future

Although many homeowners feel confident in the current state of the market, they are a bit more uncertain about the future, Zillow’s Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI).

In a survey of 10,000 renters and homeowners, the participants were asked about their current real estate market conditions, home value expectations and future affordability, and homeownership aspirations.

According to Zillow, in July, 11.4 percent of renters indicated that they intend to purchase a home in the next year, down from 12.1 percent from the last survey. An even smaller percentage of noted that it was a good time to buy.

In addition, 59 percent of those surveyed believe people who have recently bought a home will be better off in 10 years, down 2 percentage points from the last survey.

Source: Zillow

Homeowners in the past were much more optimistic about the future, with 5.2 million renters saying they planned to buy this year.

"The housing market is slowing down, and Americans' confidence in the future of the market is understandably fading a bit, too," said Dr. Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist. "Despite remaining quite confident overall, homeowners are less confident about the future than they are about the present.”

Home value growth has slowed in almost all housing markets this year, giving homebuyers some breathing room. In those markets with marked slowdowns, many more buyers are looking to buy their first home.

“The housing market is slowing down, and Americans' confidence in the future of the market is understandably fading a bit, too."

The opposite occurred in markets where home value growth, despite having slowed overall, is still well above national norms. Here, renters are less optimistic about their buying prospects. In San Francisco, 18 percent of 18- to 34-year-old renters planned to buy a home within a year when asked in January.

Similar patterns played out in technology boom towns Seattle, San Jose and Denver as home values there kept soaring.

“Seeing still stronger than normal home value appreciation in markets like San Francisco and Seattle might remind them of the last housing bubble. But the good news is things are leveling off with no crash in sight. If incomes rise to keep up with home values – and that's a big if – people can count on homeownership in their future, even in hot markets."

Click here to view Zillow’s Housing Confidence Index.