Thinking about buying a home? You’re not alone if it feels like the wrong time, as homebuying sentiment broadly declined from August to September due to souring outlooks for buying conditions, labor markets and mortgage rates.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents to Fannie Mae’s September National Housing Survey indicated it is a bad time to buy a home — though that reflects an improvement of 16% from a year ago. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said it is a good time to sell, 13% lower than a year ago.

Overall, Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) remained flat from August to September at 71.4. That exceeds the recent low of roughly 60 in September 2022 — at the outset of the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting rate-hiking campaign — but is lower than a peak near 80 in September 2020. The HPSI fell 2.5 points year over year.

Slightly more respondents said they think home prices will rise (40%) than fall (22%), while the share of respondents who believe mortgage rates will rise, fall or remain unchanged over the next 12 months was roughly evenly split at 30%, 32% and 37%, respectively.

Meanwhile, fewer respondents reported concerns about losing their job in the next 12 months than felt so in August, with 50% reporting no concern. That share is six percentage points lower than a year ago, however.

In a new survey high, 77% of consumers reported that their household income is about the same as it was a year ago, while only 14% reported their income has risen.

The results of Fannie Mae’s monthly housing survey correspond to gloomier outlooks on the broader economy infused with job market pessimism.

The University of Michigan reported consumers’ attitudes about the economy and their personal finances declined in September “across groups by age, income and education.”