In the final quarter of 2019, home buyers are less likely (65%) to think housing availability will get harder (or stay the same) than in the final quarter of 2018 (72%). Put another way, fewer home buyers expect housing availability to worsen. On the contrary, the share of optimistic buyers expecting an easier home search process in the months ahead… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘housing economics’
Affordability Expectations Among Most Home Buyers Remain Poor
Despite help from the lowest mortgage rates in three years, an NAHB poll* conducted in the third quarter of 2019 shows that a strong majority of prospective home buyers continue to have poor expectations about being able to afford the homes for-sale in their markets. In fact, 80% say they can afford fewer than half the homes currently available where… Read More ›
A Minority of Home Buyers Expect House Search to Get Easier Soon
Only 21% of prospective home buyers (people planning a home purchase) expect that finding the right home to buy will get easier in the months ahead, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report for the third quarter 2019. That share is slightly better than the 19% who had the same expectation a year earlier. On the other hand, a majority of… Read More ›
Gains for Top Builder Share
The top 20 builders produced 29.0% of all the homes constructed in the country in 2018, according to data from BUILDER magazine. That share is a notable gain from 2017, when the largest 20 builders were responsible for 26.8% of all completions. Historical data shows a rising trend in the market share of the top 20 builders[1]. In 2000, these… Read More ›
A Smaller Share of Prospective Buyers Is Actively Looking for a Home
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›