Confidence gets shaken. Neighbors get foreclosed. Homes sink underwater. But you cannot dislodge the underlying belief in people that owning their home is the best way to go.
70 percent of Americans said homeownership is part of achieving their American Dream.
The data for this comes from Trulia. My favorite site of the real estate power portals. Taken from their biannual American Dream survey.
Why?
Well as much as anything I think it comes down to this. You have to live somewhere. You have to either buy or rent. And for most people renting sucks.
What does this mean for the real estate market?
In short it’s going to recover. At some point. I wouldn’t listen to anyone who has a detailed projection of where the housing market will be in 5 years from now. Still too many variables to play out. But longer term their will be an inevitable recovery.
If people want to buy a home, how comes the supply of buyers is so low?
The data from Trulia suggests buying a home is just a difficult proposition today.
| Biggest obstacle keeping renters – who wish to be homeowners now – from buying | |
|
Saving enough for a down payment |
51% |
|
Qualifying for a mortgage |
36% |
|
Having a poor credit history |
34% |
|
Unable to pay off existing debt |
31% |
|
Not having a stable job |
29% |
|
Declining home values |
13% |
|
Other |
12% |
More than half of people who want to buy a home are worried about how to save enough for a down payment. That’s not 51% who don’t currently have enough of a deposit, that’s 51% who worry about ever saving enough for one, in the medium term at least.
There’s been an increase in multi generational home occupancy.One way to save for a down payment is to save money on rent meantime by staying with parents.
Conclusion
Until banks making getting a mortgage a little easier the pool of qualified buyers will remain tight. The status quo will remain as it is today in the unusual pattern of low inventory but stable prices.
If you are selling your home in this market just be aware that the supply of buyers is limited. So although there is not that much competition because of the relatively low inventory levels, you do need to stand out for the crowd with your listing.
So think, well staged, well photographed and very well marketed.