{"id":207656,"date":"2025-10-07T23:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T23:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/207656\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T23:23:08","slug":"nearly-70-of-americans-think-the-economy-is-on-the-wrong-track-and-its-a-bad-time-to-buy-a-home-fannie-mae-survey-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/207656\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 70% of Americans think the economy is on the \u2018wrong track\u2019 and it’s a bad time to buy a home, Fannie Mae survey shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

A growing sense of economic pessimism is taking hold in the U.S., as new Fannie Mae<\/a> survey data reveals nearly 70% of Americans believe the economy is headed in the wrong direction. An even higher percentage (73%) say it\u2019s a bad time to buy a house. Coupled with mounting concerns about the housing market, the findings underscore the challenges facing would-be homebuyers, and paint an increasingly bleak picture for consumer sentiment as autumn begins.<\/p>\n

According to Fannie Mae\u2019s September 2025 Home Purchase Sentiment Index<\/a>, using data from the National Housing Survey, only 32% of respondents said the economy is on the \u201cright track,\u201d compared to a striking 67% who believe it\u2019s going the \u201cwrong track.\u201d These numbers have shifted little during the past year, signaling a stubborn lack of faith in the nation\u2019s economic trajectory, and the \u201cwrong track\u201d percentage ticked up from 64% in August. The steady majority express pessimism about the economy reflects ongoing turbulence from inflation, high borrowing costs, and the continued impacts of global events on U.S. households.<\/p>\n

This broad-based skepticism transcends the headline figures. Just 32% of consumers expect their personal finances to improve over the next year, while 23% anticipate things will get worse. Most people\u201445%\u2014expect little change, which aligns with a record high share (77%) saying their household income has remained about the same as it was a year ago. Only 14% report significantlyhigher income, suggesting that wage gains are failing to keep pace with higher living costs and financial pressures, and yet only 8% report significantly lower income, indicating stability. <\/p>\n

Apollo Global Management<\/a> Chief Economist Torsten Sl\u00f8k weighed in on another explanation of the economy\u2019s stagnancy on Tuesday, noting both the hiring rate and the quits rate are low, even at recessionary levels, with a declining number of job openings, rising unemployment, and slower job growth, to boot. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is that the labor market is at a standstill, where workers are not getting hired or voluntarily changing jobs,\u201d Sl\u00f8k wrote.<\/p>\n

A bad time to buy<\/p>\n

For aspiring homeowners, the outlook is especially grim. When asked whether it\u2019s a good time to buy a home, just 27% said yes, while a resounding 73% think it\u2019s a bad time. The net share of respondents who view buying conditions as favorable fell two percentage points month-over-month to negative 46%\u2014a level that has persisted since the summer.<\/p>\n

Homebuyers\u2019 attitudes toward the housing market today stem from stubbornly high mortgage rates and home prices. During the pandemic, buyers enjoyed sub-3% mortgage rates, which ushered in a wave of first-time homeowners. But by late 2023,\u00a0mortgage rates had peaked at 8%<\/a>, and today still remain near\u00a0in the 6% range<\/a>. And even a 0% mortgage rate<\/a> wouldn\u2019t make housing affordable for Americans in several major metro areas. <\/p>\n

Still, home prices are \u201cthe bigger hurdle,\u201d\u00a0Michelle Griffith<\/a>, a luxury real-estate broker with\u00a0Douglas Elliman<\/a>\u00a0based in New York City, previously told\u00a0Fortune. Indeed, home prices are 51% higher than they were five years ago, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that buying into the market especially in Manhattan or prime Brooklyn still requires a significant amount of cash upfront,\u201d Griffith said. \u201cInventory is tight and competition is high, so the cost of the property itself is what keeps most buyers on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent HPSI data confirms Americans\u2019 skepticism. Throughout 2025, the portion of those saying it\u2019s a bad time to buy has hovered around 70%, several times higher than the share who feel now is a good time. Persistently rising home prices and steep mortgage rates have contributed to these negative perceptions, making affordability an ever-greater challenge for most buyers.<\/p>\n

Still a seller\u2019s market<\/p>\n

In stark contrast to buyers, home sellers remain moderately optimistic. Fannie Mae found that 57% believe it\u2019s a good time to sell their home, with only 41% saying it\u2019s a bad time. This sentiment has declined compared to the previous year, where the net share of those seeing it as a good time to sell topped 30%; September\u2019s figure stands at just 17%. Still, the \u201cgood time to sell\u201d contingent outnumbers the buyers\u2014reflecting continued seller\u2019s market dynamics, even as perceptions soften.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, 40% of survey participants expect home prices to rise in the next 12 months, while 22% believe they\u2019ll fall, and 38% foresee stability. The net share predicting price increases is 18%\u2014unchanged from August. Meanwhile, opinions are split on mortgage rates, with roughly a third expecting rates to go down and another third bracing for further increases. Notably, just 2% now believe mortgage rates will decline\u2014down five percentage points from the previous month\u2014indicating that expectations for relief on borrowing costs remain low.<\/p>\n

To be sure, there are some subtle signs the housing market could be shifting toward favoring buyers. Mortgage applications have slightly increased, and home prices are starting to\u00a0plateau or even drop<\/a>\u00a0in some markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor prospective buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines, the housing market is finally starting to listen,\u201d First American chief economist Mark Fleming wrote in an Aug. 29 First American\u00a0post<\/a>.\u00a0Even if that\u2019s true, Fannie Mae\u2019s survey shows American homebuyers still feel as if the market isn\u2019t in their favor.<\/p>\n

Plunging into rentals<\/p>\n

Outside of the ownership market, the survey indicates renters believe costs will climb, with consumers expecting a 6% average increase in rental prices over the year ahead\u2014a 1.1 percentage-point monthly jump. Employment confidence remains solid, with 75% of working respondents not concerned about job loss in the next year.<\/p>\n

The survey also found a slight rise in renting preference: if moving, 33% would choose to rent, up one point, while 67% would opt to buy. Additionally, 57% report that obtaining a mortgage today would be difficult\u2014up slightly from the prior month\u2014further confirming the affordability squeeze.<\/p>\n

The Fannie Mae data points to a sustained period of uncertainty and challenge for Americans. With most consumers wary about both the broader economy and their personal financial prospects, and with homebuying seen as increasingly out of reach, it is clear that deep anxieties about the nation\u2019s financial trajectory are shaping everyday decisions and dampening optimism as fall gets underway.<\/p>\n

For this story,\u00a0Fortune\u00a0used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26\u201327, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business. Apply for an invitation.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A growing sense of economic pessimism is taking hold in the U.S., as new Fannie Mae survey data…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101,4664,2053,5412],"class_list":{"0":"post-207656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-fannie-mae","11":"tag-housing","12":"tag-mortgage-rates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}