Gap in U.S. Home Transaction Sentiment is Wider than Ever

A subway platform with the words " find the one ".

Financial capacity limitations–along with a dwindling inventory of affordable single-family homes–are weighing-down renters’ confidence in the housing market, and contributing to a widening gap in “home transaction sentiment.†The latest edition of The U.S. Housing Confidence Survey of 10,000 heads of household–3,762 of whom are renters–reveals a growing imbalance that warrants monitoring. As reported by…

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U.S. Housing Confidence Inches Higher

A compass with the word " confidence " written on it.

The latest edition of The Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI), published this morning, shows that confidence in the residential real estate market firmed further in July, reflecting the persistence and breadth of the U.S. housing recovery. For those unfamiliar with this gauge, ZHCI was developed by Pulsenomics LLC to effectively monitor and concisely communicate the…

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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

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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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Great (and Quite Variable) Expectations

A gold background with the words great expectations

“I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” – Charles Dickens, from Great Expectations The U.S. Housing Confidence Survey (HCS) includes several questions regarding expectations for future home values within the local market where each head of household respondent resides. We ask the questions and carefully monitor the…

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Open House Mayhem: Will it Last?

A man with chains around his neck and holding onto an orange object.

Perhaps there are glimmers of hope for anxious would-be home buyers frustrated by the dearth of existing inventory in many real estate markets (consider this CNBC report today). The January 2015 U.S. Housing Confidence Survey (HCS)–the same survey cited in the CNBC report, and from which The Zillow Housing Confidence Index is derived–reveals that, in…

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Home Affordability Conundrum

A wooden house sitting on top of some puzzle pieces.

The latest U.S. Housing Confidence Survey finds that two-thirds (66%) of renters in 20 large metro areas are confident, or somewhat confident, that they will be able to afford to own a home in the future. This is encouraging–especially given the lack of real (inflation-adjusted) wage growth in recent years, tight mortgage credit market conditions,…

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In Some Pricey Housing Markets, Selling Sentiment is High

A clock with the words " time to sell ".

Latest U.S. Housing Confidence Survey: the majority of owner-occupied household heads across 20 large metro areas says that now is a good time to sell a home. However, a geographic analysis reveals significant disparities. Note: most of the cities with a below-average number of homeowners who agree that now is a good time to sell…

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