A national poll in the second quarter of 2019 revealed that 12% of adults are thinking about buying a home in the next 12 months. Of that group, 41% are already actively engaged in the process of finding a home to purchase, which is a smaller share than a year earlier, when 50% of prospective buyers were engaged in the… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘housing affordability’
Affordability Expectations Among Most Prospective Buyers Are Poor
An earlier post revealed that only 12% of adults polled in the second quarter of 2019 are prospective home buyers (they are planning to buy a home in the next year). The poll asked these buyers to estimate the share of homes available for-sale in their markets they believed they could afford. As the graph below shows, affordability expectations are… Read More ›
Home Construction in Manufacturing Areas Weakened after 2017 Strength
The second quarter 2019 edition of the NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) introduces a new analysis of residential construction in manufacturing-intensive areas, in addition to updating trends for previously-defined areas of the exurbs, suburbs and rural markets. The HBGI data find that manufacturing areas experienced above-trend growth for single-family construction in 2017, followed by declines in 2019 as the… Read More ›
Only 20% of Home Buyers Expect House Search to Get Easier Soon
A second quarter 2019 NAHB poll revealed that only 12% of adults are prospective home buyers, i.e. they are planning to buy a home in the next year. These prospective buyers were asked about their expectations for housing availability going forward. As the graph below shows, 20% expect the search for a home to become easier in the months ahead,… Read More ›
Home Prices Remain the Principal Barrier to Homeownership
As revealed in a previous post, 53% of buyers actively searching for a home to buy in the first quarter of 2019 have been looking – unsuccessfully – for three months or longer. Why is it taking these buyers that long to pull the trigger? The most important reason is they can’t find a home at a price they can… Read More ›
Nearly Half of Prospective Buyers Are Actively House Hunting
Many people start thinking about a home purchase well in advance of actually engaging in the process of finding a home. In a national poll in the first quarter of 2019, 13% of adults reported planning a home purchase within the next year. Of those prospective buyers, 46% are already actively involved in trying to find a home to buy. … Read More ›
Home Buyers’ Perceptions on Affordability Improve Slightly
In addition to analyzing buyers’ perceptions about housing availability, the Housing Trends Report also explores perceptions about housing affordability. To this end, the poll asks prospective home buyers to estimate the share of homes available in their markets they believe they can afford. In the first quarter of 2018, 82% estimated they could afford fewer than half the homes for-sale… Read More ›
22% of Home Buyers Expect House Search to Get Easier Soon
In the first quarter of 2019, adults planning a home purchase (i.e. prospective buyers) were asked about their expectations for housing availability in the near future. Results show that 22% expect the search for a home to become easier in the months ahead, an improvement over the 16% who had that same expectation a year earlier. During this period, the… Read More ›
Housing Affordability Holds Steady on a Year-Over-Year Basis
Lower home prices, declining mortgage rates and solid income gains contributed to a rise in housing affordability in the first quarter of 2019, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). However, the HOI was little changed on a year-over-year basis, as home buyers continue to face ongoing challenges in terms of limited inventory,… Read More ›
Existing Home Sales Dropped for the Third Straight Month in January
Existing home sales dropped for the third straight month in January, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors. This is the lowest level in recent three years. Total Existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, decreased 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million in January, the lowest level since November… Read More ›