HOMEBUYER CONFIDENCE SCORE

New survey finds buyers still confident in market conditions

Confidence in buying conditions shakes, but won’t break

By Patrick Kearns | Jun 23, 2022

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Prospective homebuyers are still generally feeling confident in the housing market outlook over the next quarter, a new survey from real estate technology company OJO Labs found. The company’s monthly homebuying confidence score dipped to its lowest level yet — but the overall score still remains positive in the face of rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty. 

The survey of prospective homebuyers showed consumer confidence in homebuying scored +16.4 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 +18.2 recorded over the previous monthly period  — and the second consecutive month of declines.

To gather the score, OJO Labs surveyed users on its residential home search site Movoto by OJO who indicated they were interested in learning more about a home between May 17, 2022, and June 17, 2022, and asked them to rate homebuying conditions over the next three months. 

Of the 4,556 respondents, 26.2% 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 28.5% last month. 

The number of survey respondents that strongly agreed that the next three months would be a good time to buy a home rose slightly to 19.9% from 18.7% the month before. Similar to last month, slightly more than 47% of respondents expressed a positive sentiment on market conditions over the next three months. 

24.2% 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 23.6% 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 remained unchanged at 20.4% compared to last month. The smallest percentage of respondents — only 9.2% — said they disagreed with the statement, up from 8.6% 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

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