More homeowners are shying away from putting their homes on the market, according to Fannie Mae's most recent National Housing Survey.
Respondents who told the mortgage giant it was a bad time to sell their homes grew from 34% in March to 41% in April.
The Home Purchase Sentiment Index, compiled from questions in the National Housing Survey, increased by 1.1 points in April, but fell 2.7 points when compared to the same time a year ago.
This index takes into account the buying and selling conditions, home price and mortgage rate outlooks for the next 12 months, job loss concerns over the next year and the change in household income from the past 12 months.
Job loss concerns, changes in household income and home price outlook all increased in April. Respondents were 15% more concerned about losing their jobs in the next year compared to last month, but 3% fewer were worried compared to year ago. Three percent more of those who answered the survey said they expected home prices to rise in the following 12 months, which is 2% lower than in April 2024.
The selling conditions component, which gauges sentiment on whether it's a good time to list, dropped 13% month over month and 18% from a year ago. The mortgage rate outlook — whether the respondents expected rates to go down in the next 12 months — fell 1% from the previous month and 3% from a year ago.
Buying conditions, which measures sentiment on whether it is a good time to shop, was the only component with no change month over month in April, but it's up 4% year over year.