A new survey from Realtor.com [1] found 36% of prospective buyers believe the U.S. has already entered into a recession.
However, those that are still shopping are reporting great optimism.
“Their optimism likely comes from expecting low mortgage rates and fewer other buyers to compete with as well as the possibility of home price declines. Some of these expectations are more realistic than others,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com and the author of the post.
The survey ran from February 28 to March 22, and of those who responded after March 11, 36% said we are already in a recession and an additional 31% said the U.S. will enter a recession in the next three months.
For those who responded before March 11, just 14% thought the U.S. was already in a recession and 11% said a recession will begin in the next three months.
The survey said 43% of those surveyed after March 11 and 35% of those polled before March 11 say they are more likely or somewhat more likely to purchase a home during a recession.
Just 14% after and 15% before March 11 said they would likely buy a home in a recession.
The survey also found that a majority of consumers don’t expect a recession to have a significant effect on home prices. Also, 42% or those surveyed post-March 11 and 41% of those asked before March 11 just expect a decline of at most 5%.
While those surveyed by Realtor.com said a recession may not impact their decision to buy a home, research by John Hopkins’ Coronaviru Resource Center found that 54% of Americans are concerned about their finances, according to a study by LendEDU. [2]
“Widespread delinquency or default would have severe implications on the economy at large,” LendEDU states. “In an attempt to combat this, we have seen the Trump Administration waive further accruing interest on student loans and suspend all evictions and foreclosures until April for FHA-insured mortgages."