Fewer Renters are In The Mood (to Buy a Home)

A person is signing a rental agreement

According to the latest edition of The U.S. Housing Confidence Survey (HCS), renters continue to have positive homeownership aspirations. For example, in January, more than six in ten of the 3,741 renters surveyed across 20 of the largest U.S. cities said that they believe that owning a home provides a person more freedom than renting…

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Only Four In Ten Renters Say It’s a Good Time to Buy a Home

A person holding keys to their new home.

Pulsenomics recently completed the latest edition of The U.S. Housing Confidence Survey(HCS). This study entails compilation of 10,000 questionnaires completed by heads of household across the country, and synthesis of more than 300,000 question responses to update the biannual Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI). One of the dozens of housing-centric questions included in HCS is, “Where…

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Millennials, Californians High on Housing

A pair of sunglasses on the beach at sunset.

The latest Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) reveals that homeowner expectations are higher than they were two years ago in the majority of metro areas tracked, and nowhere are they higher now than in The Golden State. The ZHCI homeowner expectations sub-indexes for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose are now 77.5, 77.3, and…

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U.S. Housing Confidence Proving Resilient

A single flower is growing in the middle of cracked earth.

An index derived from the January 2016 edition of The U.S. Housing Confidence Survey shows that confidence in the residential real estate market is proving resilient, even as investor confidence, business confidence, and consumer economic sentiment have wavered amidst turbulent financial markets and unsettling election-year politics. The latest Zillow Housing Confidence Index — which summarizes the survey…

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Expectations for Home Values Fading

A man standing in front of the word expectations.

Data from the latest installment of The Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey indicate that most of the 104 expert respondents foresee further moderation in the rate of U.S. home value appreciation beyond 2016. The outlook for 2016 U.S. home price appreciation is 3.7 percent, less than the 4 percent value increase realized in 2015. The…

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New Construction Double Jeopardy: Land & Labor

A man holding onto a wooden board while standing on top of a building.

Sales of newly built single-family homes have struggled to recover to pre-recession norms, and single family construction activity overall has been anemic despite limited for-sale inventory and evidence of robust demand in certain market segments (e.g., entry-level homes). In the latest Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, we asked an expert panel of more than 100…

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Leaders & Laggards in U.S. Housing

A turtle and rabbit are on the track.

As the U.S. housing market recovery has progressed, home values are responding to local economic conditions rather than broader national trends. As a result, some metro-area housing markets with very strong local economies are out-performing the nation as a whole, while others are lagging. Will current market laggards continue to under-perform in 2016 and beyond?…

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Long-term outlook for U.S. home values dims

A woman looking through binoculars while standing on top of a hill.

The long-term outlook for U.S. home values has diminished to a three-year low, and a clear-cut consensus among the experts remains elusive at the national level. This, according to The Q4 edition of the Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey published today. (Pulsenomics conducted the survey and collected 108 responses). Based on the projections of the most optimistic…

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The Housing High (and Comedown?) in Denver

A city skyline with buildings and trees in the foreground.

Data from the July edition of the U.S. Housing Confidence Survey of 10,000 households (HCS) and the Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) highlighted the recent smoking-hot conditions in the Denver housing market. For example,  at 77.9, the Housing Market Conditions Index (a ZHCI component) for Denver was at the highest level of all cities tracked…

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Households Ditch The Rear View Mirror

A rear view mirror of a car with trees in the background

Real estate is a notoriously inefficient asset class. One symptom of market inefficiency is price inertia, a hallmark of housing markets. However, a comparison of actual U.S. home value changes in the recent past to expected changes for the near future (see below chart) suggests that as households ride the road to real estate recovery,…

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