--- title: Dip in Mortgage Rates Spurs (Some) Optimism About the Housing Market description: The improvement in consumer confidence could mean more homes for sale in 2024 — but affordability will likely still be an obstacle. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter who specialized in U.S. rent and real estate, with a focus on market trends and affordability. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-01-09T18:21:17.000Z' modified: '2024-01-09T18:21:17.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News - real estate word_count: 463 canonical: https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We may earn a fee if you click on the links below. Compensation does not determine ranking. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration depicting the housing market](https://img.money.com/2024/01/News-Lower-Mortgage-Rates-Spur-Optimism-Housing-Market.jpg?crop=0px%2C200px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Recent dips in [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) have Americans feeling a little better about the housing market in the new year — and they're hopeful rates will continue cooling. In a monthly [national housing survey](https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/consumer-optimism-about-mortgage-rates-jumps-significantly) from government-backed company Fannie Mae, sentiment ticked up up almost three points in December, mostly thanks to mortgage rate optimism. The improvement in consumer confidence could mean more homes for sale in 2024 — but with home prices expected to stay high, affordability will still be an obstacle for buyers. ## Housing confidence increases as mortgage rates fall Mortgage rates have cooled steadily since fall, dropping from about 7.76% as of Nov. 2 to 6.61% for the week ending Dec. 28. Fannie Mae’s December index shows that 31% of respondents said they expect mortgage rates to continue decreasing in the next 12 months, a survey high. That’s a major improvement from [September](https://money.com/housing-market-pessimism-mortgage-rates/), when only 17% of respondents said the same (and nearly half said they expected rates to increase). About 31% of respondents surveyed in December said they expect rates to increase, while 36% expect them to stay flat. But U.S. adults don't necessarily feel optimistic about the housing market overall: About 17% of consumers said that now is a good time to buy a home, slightly more than the 14% who said the same in November. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they expect housing prices to go up over the next 12 months, while only 24% said they would fall and 36% predicted they would stay the same. ## What it could mean for buyers and sellers The more optimistic outlook on mortgage rates could encourage more people to list their homes for sale, Mark Palim, vice president and deputy chief economist at Fannie Mae, said in a news release. Depending on how much mortgage rates actually fall, Fannie Mae expects the pace of [home sales](https://money.com/home-sales-slump-costs-spike/) — which slowed dramatically amid 2023’s crushing combination of high home prices and mortgage rates — to start seeing some improvement this year. “A more optimistic rate outlook among consumers may signal an expectation that home affordability pressures will ease in 2024,” Palim says. Even though consumer attitudes have improved a bit, U.S. adults are still “overwhelmingly pessimistic” about [homebuying](https://money.com/home-buying-guide-fall-winter-2023/) conditions. Prices broke records again in 2023 and demand significantly outweighed supply, keeping prices elevated. Housing experts expect supply to stay low, and while prices probably won't get more expensive this year on a national basis, it's also unlikely that they'll decrease beyond 1%. As such, Fannie Mae expects elevated home prices to work against any affordability gains stemming from falling mortgage rates, especially for first-time homebuyers. ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26681/medium_57f09f10-efb8-487d-a73e-5f7d605144eb.png) Imagine finally owning your dream home — Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) can help! [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/t39f99e0e0ab?ap_referrer=%2Fmortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Housing Market", "item": "https://money.com/housing-market/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Dip in Mortgage Rates Spurs (Some) Optimism About the Housing Market" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/", "name": "Dip in Mortgage Rates Spurs (Some) Optimism About the Housing Market", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-01-09T18:21:17.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates-housing-market-optimism/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-09T18:21:17.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Dip in Mortgage Rates Spurs (Some) Optimism About the Housing Market", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/01/News-Lower-Mortgage-Rates-Spur-Optimism-Housing-Market.jpg?crop=0px%2C200px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Lower-Mortgage-Rates-Spur-Optimism-Housing-Market" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) 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