Housing Price Growth Expectations Increase; Renters Express Concern for Ability to Own a Home - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK
NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released results from its 2024 SCE Housing Survey, which is part of the broader Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) and provides information on consumers’ housing-related experiences and expectations. The results show that the pace at which households expect home prices to rise in the next year has reaccelerated after falling last year, with average one-year ahead expectations now reaching their second highest reading in the survey’s history. In contrast, home price growth expectations for the next five years declined slightly. Expectations about the change in the cost of rent were considerably higher than home price expectations but followed a similar pattern, as rental price growth expectations increased for one-year-ahead and were essentially flat for five-years ahead.
Homeowners’ expectations about the likelihood of refinancing their mortgages over the next 12 months rebounded slightly after falling last year, but remain well below pre-pandemic levels. Renters’ views on the ease of obtaining a mortgage deteriorated substantially, with 74.2% stating that obtaining a mortgage is somewhat or very difficult. In fact, renters’ self-assessed probability of ever owning a home decreased to a new series low.