Sentiments about the U.S. housing market have tumbled to a record low in a new Gallup polling.

Just 21% of adults responding to the latest survey said it is “a good time to buy a house,” down from a previous low of 30% last year. These are the first years that fewer than half of adults feel optimistic about owning a home since Gallup first polled the issue in 1978.

Another 78% of respondents to the latest poll said it is “a bad time” to buy a house.

“It is likely that Americans’ pessimism about homebuying reflects the high prices and high interest rates that are conspiring to make mortgage payments less affordable,” Gallup said Tuesday. “These attitudes may keep many prospective homebuyers out of the market.”

Positive feelings about buying a house hit a record high 81% in the 2003 poll, when the company noted that homeownership and housing prices were increasing.

Enthusiasm for home buying dipped in the 2008 poll after the housing market crashed the previous year and again in 2020. But it still did not fall below 50% in either year.

With prices cooling, 56% of respondents to the latest poll expect home values in their area to rise in the coming year, down from 70% last year. Another 25% said prices will stay the same and 19% said they will go down.

Midwesterners and rural residents are the least likely to expect home values in their areas to increase this year, while Eastern and rural residents are the most likely to expect higher prices, Gallup said.

The results come from the company’s annual Economy and Personal Finance survey. Gallup conducted the randomized national telephone survey of 1,013 adults on April 3-25. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.