Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Households Anticipate Home Price Easing

The term "housing bubble" is familiar to only a third of households, but 40 percent of all households believe a period of price declines could occur at some point during the next few years, an Experian/Gallup Personal Credit Index survey of 1,001 adults finds.

For the coming year, though, households see prices continuing to rise. Some 70 percent of households anticipate a jump in local home prices in the coming year. Gains of 10 percent or more are expected by 33 percent of those polled, while 10 percent are awaiting appreciation rates of 20 percent or more.

As for mortgage rates, 75 percent of respondents believe they will rise in the year ahead--with close to 50 percent predicting a hike of at least 1.5 percentage points.