What a party – hope no one takes away the punch bowl.

Five out of the six components of Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) gained ground in April, driving the index to a new all-time high.  However, the sixth component showed consumers considerably less invested in it being a good time to buy a home.

The HPSI rose 3.4 points to 91.7 in April, up 5 percentage points since April 2017.  The responses broke through the previous high of 89.5, reached in both December 2017 and January 2018.  The milestone came despite a decrease of 3 percent in the net share of respondents who said now is a good time to buy a home.  The net of 29 for that question was still way above the record low net of 18 from the survey last August.

The net share reporting that now is a good time to sell a home increased 6 percentage points to 45 percent.  This was a new survey high for that component, which rose 19 percentage points over the 12 months ended in April.

“The latest HPSI reading edged up to a new survey high, showing that consumer attitudes remain resilient going into the spring/summer home buying season,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “High home prices and good economic conditions helped push the share of Americans who think it’s a good time to sell to a fresh record high. However, the upward trend in the good-time-to-sell share seen since last spring has done little to release more for-sale inventory. The tightest supply in decades, combined with rising mortgage rates from historically low levels, will likely remain a hurdle for mobility and a persistent headwind for home sales.”

The net share of respondents who said home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased 7 percentage points in April to 49 percent.  Among those who expect further price increases the average amount projected was 3.9 percent, up from 3.0 percent in March.

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