Poll: 64 percent of Americans expect home prices to rise

Image: Flickr

May 7 (UPI) — The highest number of Americans since the onset of the housing bubble believe home prices in their local area will rise, according to a Gallup poll.

Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance poll found 64 percent of Americans expect an increase in housing prices, up 9 percent from the past two years and the highest expectations for an increase since 2005.

Residents in the Western United States were most likely to expect house prices to increase at 79 percent, as the region is home to some of the states with the fastest rising home prices including in California, Nevada, Utah and Washington.

Southern residents saw the lowest increase in their expectations for increase in housing prices, rising 3 percent from 61 percent in 2016 to 64 percent in 2018.

In March, U.S. home prices surged 7 percent higher than the previous year, the largest increase since May 2014, according to a CoreLogic report.

The price gains are greatest in the nation’s largest markets, resulting in half of the 50 largest markets being considered overvalued, with prices at least 10 percent higher than the long-term, sustainable level.

Las Vegas, San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Washington, D.C. have all become overvalued, according to CoreLogic.

Prices increased the most in the lower end of the market as low supply and high demand forced home buyers into bidding wars and caused sales of homes priced under $100,000 to fall more than 20 percent in March.

Despite rising home prices and interest rates creating a less favorable market than a few years ago, 65 percent of Americans said they felt it is a good time to buy a house.

“High demand and limited supply of homes are putting upward pressure on home prices, leading many real estate experts to urge prospective buyers to get into the market now, before rising prices and interest rates make homes too expensive to afford,” Gallup said.

The Gallup data was collected through telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,015 adults age 18 or older, between April 2 and April 11. The poll has a 4 percent margin of error.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here