Americans are feeling better about the housing market, according to the most recent results of Fannie Mae’s monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index. The index – which surveys Americans and asks them whether they think now is a good time to buy or sell a house, how confident they are in their finances and job, and where they think home prices and mortgage rates are headed – found respondents more optimistic than they’ve been in months. In fact, the index was at its highest level since May 2022, with an increasing number of respondents saying they feel now is a good time to buy a house. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist, says Americans’ optimism is partly due to mortgage rates. “This month’s increase in the HPSI was the largest in over two years, primarily driven by consumers’ more optimistic mortgage rate expectations,” Duncan said. “An increased number of respondents indicated that they think mortgage rates will go down over the next year, a belief that could be due to a combination of factors, including an awareness of decelerating inflation, market suggestions that monetary conditions will ease in the not-too-distant future, and, of course, actual mortgage rate declines over the month.” (source)