For the first time since 2020, prospective buyers expect housing availability to improve. After falling steadily for five quarters, the share expecting the home search to get easier in the months ahead grew from 17% to 22% between the first and second quarters of 2022. Less competition from buyers priced-out of the market by recent increases in mortgage rates is likely driving this improvement. In contrast, 67% expect the search to get harder/stay the same, down from 74% a quarter earlier.
Housing availability expectations improved in all regions except the Midwest. In the West, 31% of buyers expect easier conditions, up from 18% a quarter earlier. In the Northeast, the share rose from 22% to 28%; in the South, from 17% to 18%; while in the Midwest, it edged down from 15% to 14%.
Another measure confirms that buyers’ perceptions of housing inventory pivoted in the second quarter of 2022. After declining for five straight quarters, the share of buyers seeing more homes available for-sale* in their markets turned around in the second quarter of 2022, rising to 28% from 23% a quarter earlier.
Across regions, inventory perceptions improved or remained unchanged. From the first to the second quarter of 2022, the share of buyers seeing more homes on the market rose in the West (23% to 36%) and the Midwest (21% to 23%), while remaining the same in the NE (27%) and SO (24%).
** Results come from the Housing Trends Report (HTR) – a research product created by the NAHB Economics team with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets. The HTR is produced quarterly to track changes in buyers’ perceptions over time. All data are derived from national polls of representative samples of American adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult. Results are seasonally adjusted. A description of the poll’s methodology and sample characteristics can be found here. This is the third in a series of six posts highlighting results for the 2nd quarter of 2022.
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