The economy keeps growing, yet the growing number of Americans with jobs are apparently not so confident that their income will keep pace with prices.
The findings track the critique of some economists that the past several years of solid job growth has not been accompanied by widespread wage increases: Consumer sentiments dipped in November, according to responses from more than 1,000 people nationally as part of the Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index.
“The economy drags housing upward,” said Doug Duncan, chief economist at the mortgage giant. “Consumers’ assessment of their income over the past year has not yet shown sustained improvement.”
Despite that, the overall circumstances are positive, he said. “This year’s housing market is poised to be the best since 2007.”
The survey reflected the mismatch of supply and demand that has been evident in the market for nearly two years. According to the survey:
— The share of respondents saying it is a good time to buy a house rose 1 percentage point to 35 percent.
— The share of people saying it is a good time to sell a house fell for the second month in a row – dropping to just 4 percent.
Concern about jobs had been falling, but it edged up in November. The share of respondents who say they are not concerned about losing their jobs dipped 2 percentage points to 69 percent.
Meanwhile, the share of people saying their household income is higher than a year ago fell to 6 percent.
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