WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2021) A booming US housing market, fueled in part by thousands of Dollars in COVID-19 relief payments to American households, pushed consumer expectations of future home price increases to record levels, according to a Gallup poll on Tuesday.
"[Efforts] to contain damage to the economy from the coronavirus, came at a time when the supply of available houses could not keep up with demand. Additionally, many people forced into remote work and schooling by COVID-19 health restrictions were looking for new houses to accommodate those lifestyle changes," a press release explaining the poll said.
As a result, US consumer expectations of a continuing rise in home values hit 71 percent in April, the highest level reported in a Gallup polling series going back to 2005, the release said.
The previous record of 70 percent came during the US housing bubble in 2005 that later collapsed, triggering the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the release added.
Gallup said it usually finds that Americans regard real estate as the best long-term investment among several options seeing it as superior to stocks, gold, savings accounts and bonds.
The 41 percent choosing real estate as the best investment in the latest poll is the highest top selection for any of the five investment options in a polling series going back 11 years, according to the release.
