Sixty-three percent of Americans are confident in their home-buying prospects today, but just 34 percent favor it "strongly," a dip from earlier this year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) Survey, new for Q3 2019.
 
A determining factor? Income. Of Americans earning less than $50,000, 54 percent favor home-buying today, according to the survey—however, as incomes rise, so does positive sentiment. Among $50,000-$100,000 earners, 65 percent believe now is a good time to buy, and for $100,000 earners, that figure leaps to 72 percent.
 
The correlation prevailed for sellers, too. Of $100,000-earning households, 82 percent believe now is a good time to sell, compared to 64 percent in the under-$50,000 group.
 
"Not surprisingly, as incomes increase, the process of buying a home is less of a strain," Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, says. "This has always been the case, but in this third quarter survey, we see it to an even greater extent—high earners are more open to buying a home."
 
Overall, the economy is positively progressing, according to 52 percent of respondents to the survey; however, 51 percent of millennials believe the opposite. The most optimistic? The Silent Generation, at 54 percent, who also have the highest housing market optimism, at 75 percent.
 
"Mortgage rates are at historically low levels, so I see no sign of the optimism about home-buying fading," says Yun. "However, the fact that slightly fewer are expressing strong intensity compared to recent prior quarters is implying some would-be buyers have concerns about the direction of the economy."
 
For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.
 
Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia's online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com.
 

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