Most 2009 buyers may be first-timers
Move Inc. survey shows pent-up demand
By Inman News, Tuesday, March 24, 2009.Nearly 80 percent of Americans don't expect to buy a home in the next five years, but more than half of those that do plan to buy this year would be first-time homebuyers.
That's according to a survey commissioned by Realtor.com operator Move Inc., which also found one in five homeowners with mortgages have contacted their lender hoping to restructure their loans. About half said they'd succeeded.
A crackdown on mortgage fraud, lower interest rates, and tax breaks for first-time homebuyers were seen as the three most important factors to stabilizing housing markets among 1,005 adults surveyed by OmniTel on behalf of Move from March 6-8.
Although 23 percent said they planned to buy a home in the next five years, only 5.8 percent said they expected to complete that purchase within the next 12 months. About 7 percent said they planned to purchase a home in one to two years, and 11 percent planned to purchase within two to five years.
More than half of those planning to buy in the next 12 months would be first-time homebuyers (53.5 percent), which compares to the 41 percent market share actually taken by first-time homebuyers in 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors.
"It's not all doom and gloom. We found Americans are optimistic about homeownership despite concerns," said Move Inc. CEO Steve Berkowitz in a press release detailing the survey results. Move said the survey demonstrates the housing downturn "has created significant demand for homeownership especially among first-time homebuyers." ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by Teresa Boardman on March 24, 2009 - 5:12am.
I am seeing that in my market. I get calls every day from first time home buyers.
Submitted by TReXGlobal on March 24, 2009 - 8:42am.
In many markets, retail buyers have pretty much disappeared. Other than first time home buyers, the only group buying in 2009 has been real estate investors. Prices are attractive, interest rates are very low, and they are able to pick up discounted properties with good cash flows.
Niman Singh
www.TReXGlobal.com/Partner - Real Estate Web Tools for Marketing to Investors
Submitted by Jill Kipnis on March 24, 2009 - 4:31pm.
We also found it interesting that about two-thirds (62.5%) of adults now consider their home to be primarily a place to live as opposed to an investment. A PDF of the REALTOR.com National Homeownership Survey is here:
http://budurl.com/tnqr
--Jill Kipnis
Blogger, Move Trends
Submitted by Jim Gilbert on March 24, 2009 - 6:11pm.
The tax credit and the lower interest rates are encouraging some here in the Austin area. I am working with a mix of first-timers and repeat buyers.
Submitted by Matt Carter on March 25, 2009 - 4:57pm.
Thanks for posting the link to the survey in PDF format, Jill. But it looks like only a partial list of the questions that were asked. Also, unless the PDF is not an accurate representation of the questions that were asked, it appears that those taking the survey were erroneously informed that the first-time homebuyer tax credit is good until Dec. 31. It is only good through the end of November. Comparing the PDF to the press release issued by Move, it omits: --The percentage who plan to buy in the next year (5.8 percent), year to two years (7 percent) two to five years (11 percent percent). --The percentage of homeowners who contacted lenders about restructuring their loans (21 percent) or the percentage who succeeded (10.6 percent, or half) or were still waiting for an answer (5 percent, or about one in four). --The percentage who see the economy as "by far the most pressing issue on the domestic agenda" (52 percent), followed by health care (15.2 percent) and federal debt (11.7 percent). -- The percentage who believe that cracking down on mortgage fraud (56.9 percent), lower interest rates (51.6 percent) and giving first time home buyers tax breaks as incentives to buy (43.5 percent) are the top three solutions that would have the most impact in stabilizing the housing market --That homeowners valued more space (10 percent) over a list of other options, including, energy saving features (6.8 percent), bigger or nicer yard (6.1 percent), a better location (4.2 percent) or updated amenities (3.4 percent). The press release also suggests that there were further breakdowns by age and income level, which might be interesting to see. To your point that two-thirds of adults consider their home to be primarily a place to live as opposed to an investment, for example, that seems to be income dependent. From the press release: "Adults earning up to $20,000 and between $30,000 and $39,900 annually are significantly more likely to feel most strongly that a home is more of a place to live than an investment as compared to those earning $50,000 or more."