More U.S. Homebuyers Say They Expect a Recession by Next Year
More U.S. Homebuyers Say They Expect a Recession by Next Year
(Bloomberg) -- Recession fears are on the minds of a growing share of U.S. homebuyers, half of whom say they’ll pause their search if a downturn arrives.
More than 36% of 755 active buyers surveyed this month said they expect the next recession to begin next year, according to a survey released Wednesday by Realtor.com. That’s up from less than 30% in March. About 56% of respondents to the latest poll said they would postpone home-shopping if the economy hits the skids.
“The next recession will likely be driven by factors outside of housing, such as a prolonged trade war, cutbacks in corporate spending or contagion from a European recession,” George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “We do not expect it to be anything like 2008.”
About 44% of respondents said they believe an upcoming recession would be milder than a decade ago. Millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure after taking on mortgages they couldn’t afford.
To contact the reporter on this story: Prashant Gopal in Boston at pgopal2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus, Daniel Taub
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