Survey says Americans have new optimism in homeownership
A new survey by Prudential Real Estate says that American optimism for homeownership has significantly risen over the past year.
According to the national survey, 60 percent of Americans have a positive outlook on homeownership, which is up about eight points from last year.
Mark Woodroof, a partner at Prudential Gary Green Realtors, says that he believes that things are looking up in Houston as well.
“It is clear that consumer confidence is on the upswing nationally, and all indications are that things are just as positive, if not more so, for Houston,” said Woodroof. “In Houston, year-to-date single-family home sales are up 13 percent over last year, and dollar volume of homes sold for the same period is up 10 percent. There is more buyer demand, as indicated by the number of contracts written, which is up nine percent over this time last year.”
According to the survey, and stated on CNBC, due to historically low interest rates, 96 percent of people believe that now is a good time to purchase a home and 70 percent have at least some degree of confidence that property values will increase over the next two years.
Mary Eiland, another partner at Prudential Gary Greene Realtors, says, “The national Prudential Real Estate survey reflects what our sales professionals see in the Houston area every day – that home ownership is important to consumers and that their confidence in the housing market is strengthening. Our sales are up and our agents are very busy,” said Eiland, adding that the Prudential survey isn’t the only good news for the housing market. Marcus and Millichap, a real estate investment firm has recently published a report.
“This report projects that Houston will add 91,000 jobs this year, a surge that could stimulate demand for commercial real estate development and, ultimately, home sales,” said Eiland.
The Prudential survey also says that 63 percent of Americans believe that real estate is a good investment despite the recent market volatility, this number is up eleven points from last year.