In a recent article posted by the NAHB, they found that the average percentage of adults who reportedly have plans to purchase a home within a year has declined from 17% in 2018 during the first quarter to 13% for 2019. With this being reported as the second consecutive year-over-year drop, and could be contributed to the deterioration in the affordability of today’s housing market.
Some of the other items detailed in the Housing Trends Report (HTR)
shows that a majority of the adults looking to purchase a home within a year are Millennials who make up 20% of the market, with Generation X following behind with 15%. Interestingly they found an increase in first time homebuyers from 54% for 2018 to 60% for 2019. With 77% of those, being made up of Millennials.
It also detailed how geographically there was a higher number of buyers planning a home purchase from the south (16%) versus other regions of the country. Lastly, the data showed that these prospective homebuyers preferred to buy and existing home (41%) versus building a home (22%), with the remaining buyers (38%) open to either option.
In closing, today’s market is seeing a prospective decrease in buyers interest in entering the purchasing market over the next year compared to last year, however the increase in Millennials to the market is a continued move in the right direction. What will the results of the second quarter be? Time will tell. Hopefully, the market will start to see a balance in the affordability of today’s available housing to help drive the interest up in today prospective buyers.