Freddie Mac’s quarterly housing outlook pulse survey evaluates public sentiment on housing-related issues. In the fourth quarter of 2022, market confidence fell to its lowest point since tracking began in March 2020. The likelihood of buying or refinancing a home remained flat quarter-over-quarter, while payment concerns spiked among both homeowners and renters.

We are also keeping a pulse on the following four key areas of the housing market.

Market Confidence

  • 34% are confident the housing market will remain strong over the next year. This is down 12 percentage points from last quarter.

Housing Affordability

  • 57% of renters and 25% of homeowners spend more than 30% of their monthly income on housing. This is down 3 percentage points and up 1 percentage point, respectively, from last quarter.

Payment Concerns

  • 57% of consumers are concerned about making housing payments, with concern increasing among both renters and owners since last quarter. 70% of renters (an 8-percentage point increase from last quarter) and 44% of homeowners (a 7-percentage point increase from last quarter) are concerned about making housing payments.

Market Activity

  • 21% are likely to buy a home in the next six months, a 2-percentage point increase from last quarter.
  • 14% of homeowners are likely to sell in the next six months, a 1-percentage point decrease from last quarter.
  • 17% of homeowners are likely to refinance in the next six months, a 1-percentage point increase from last quarter.

Freddie Mac’s Market Insights team partners with Heart+Mind Strategies to field its housing outlook pulse survey. This survey, conducted online November 8-10, 2022, included 2,500 interviews. Quotas were used to ensure a representative population on age, gender, ethnicity and region.

Interested in more consumer research? Gain insights into the housing market from surveys of homebuyers, homeowners and renters in Freddie Mac Consumer Research.

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