HOMEBUYER CONFIDENCE SCORE

Market conditions won’t shake buyer’s faith in the housing market

Prospective homebuyers are still generally confident that the next three months will be a good time to buy a home

By Patrick Kearns | May 19, 2022

View report

Homebuyer confidence in housing market conditions over the next three months continues to be positive, a new survey from OJO Labs found. Despite an array of headwinds in the form of rising mortgage rates and low inventory, would-be buyers aren’t souring yet — although they’re not feeling as confident as they were last month. 

The survey of prospective homebuyers on the real estate search website Movoto by OJO showed consumer confidence in homebuying scored +18.2 on a scale from -100 to 100, with 0 being a neutral sentiment on buying conditions over the next three months. 

It’s a decrease from the score of +22.9 recorded over the previous monthly period but still tops the +17.2 recorded two months ago. To gather the score, OJO Labs surveyed users who indicated they were interested in learning more about a home between April 17, 2022, and May 17, 2022, and asked them to rate homebuying conditions over the next three months. 

Of the 4,955 respondents, 28.4% agreed with the statement that the next three months would be a good time to buy a home — once again the largest cohort of respondents — which is down from 31.1% last month. 

The number of survey respondents that strongly agreed that the next three months would be a good time to buy a home dipped slightly to 18.7% from 19.4% — meaning that roughly 47% of the respondents expressed a positive opinion about buying conditions over the next three months. 

23.6% of respondents told OJO Labs that they neither agreed nor disagreed that the next three months would be a good time to buy a home, which was tied for the second-largest percentage of respondents and an increase from the month prior. Last month 22.4% of respondents expressed the same sentiment.

The percentage of respondents who strongly disagreed that the next three months would be a good time to buy a home climbed to 20.4% — up from 18.6% last month. The smallest percentage of respondents — only 8.6% — said they disagreed with the statement, up from 8.7% last month. The “disagree” cohort has been the smallest since OJO began tracking the score. 

The homebuyer confidence score is calculated by taking the percentage of respondents who agree or strongly agree minus the percentage who disagree or strongly disagree. A positive number indicates a positive lean, whereas a negative number indicates a negative one. Respondents were selected from Movoto by OJO users who submitted forms to indicate they were interested in buying a home. They were asked, “How much do you agree or disagree with this statement: I am confident that the next three months will be a good time to buy a home.”

Patrick Kearns is the Director of Storytelling at OJO Labs. Prior to joining OJO Labs, Patrick worked as a journalist for more than a decade, most recently covering housing and real estate at Inman News. He’s also written for The Guardian, The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Vice, and others.

OJO is a real estate platform that provides support and guidance to match each moment of the home journey, so everyone feels ready, equipped, and inspired to take the next step. Learn more.

Texas Real Estate Commission Broker Licenses:
OJO Labs Inc. - 9007689
OJO Home LLC - 9008342

TREC Consumer Notice • TREC Information About Brokerage Services • Real Estate Broker Licenses