Tag Archives: internet
Number of first time buyers in the US falls for third year in a row
The share of first time buyers in the United States fell for the third year in a row and remained at its lowest point in nearly three decades, according to a new survey. The overall strengthening pace of home sales over the past year was driven more by repeat buyers with dual incomes, according to the annual survey released by the National Association of Realtors. The survey also found that nearly 90% of all respondents worked with a real estate agent to buy or sell a home which pushed for sale by owner transactions to their lowest share ever. The number of first time buyers was down to 32% from 33% a year ago, which is the second lowest share since the survey began in 1981 and the lowest since 1987 when it was 30%. Historically, the long term average shows that nearly 40% of primary purchases are from first time buyers. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, the housing recovery's missing link continues to be the absence of first time buyers. ‘There are several reasons why there should be more first–time buyers reaching the market, including persistently low mortgage rates, healthy job prospects for those college educated, and the fact that renting is becoming more unaffordable in many areas,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, there are just as many high hurdles slowing first time buyers down. Increasing rents and home prices are impeding their ability to save for a down payment, there's scarce inventory for new and existing homes in their price range, and it's still too difficult for some to get a mortgage,’ he explained. Yun pointed out that this year's survey perhaps offers additional clues to why fewer first time buyers are reaching the market. ‘First time buyers reported that debt in all forms delayed saving for a down payment for a median of three years, and among the 25% who said saving was the most difficult task, 58% said student loans delayed saving,’ he said. ‘With a median amount of student loan debt for all buyers at $25,000, it's likely some younger households with even higher levels of debt can't save for an adequate down payment or have decided to delay buying until their debt is at more comfortable levels,’ he added. With strong price growth in many markets and fewer first time buyers, the results in this year's survey reveal a market with a higher share of married couples at 67% percent, up from 65% last year, who have higher household income than previous years. Married repeat buyers have the highest income among all buyers at $108,600, while the share of single female buyers decreased from 16% to 15% and male buyers remained flat at 9%. ‘Similar to some of the obstacles facing first time buyers, tighter credit conditions and having less purchasing power than households with dual incomes likely led to the share of single female buyers declining to its… Continue reading
Prime central London price growth falls as stamp duty change effect persists
Annual price growth in the prime central London property market fell to 1.3% in September, the lowest rate since October 2009, the latest data to be published shows. Annual price declines were in excess of 3% in some markets in the west of the city as higher stamp duty introduced towards the end of last year is still having an effect, according to a new analysis report from Knight Frank. Month on month prices fell by 0.1% and an east/west divide around Hyde Park has emerged. The firm’s data also shows that new prospective buyers declined by 34% but viewings only fell by 4%. However, sales volumes in September rose from August and were on track to match September 2014. Rising transaction costs appear to have sparked a flight to quality, according to Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank. ‘Activity has certainly increased following a subdued summer period as buyers came to terms with an increase in stamp duty and a July Budget that curbed exemptions surrounding resident non-doms,’ he said. ‘Furthermore, some high quality stock has come onto the market, which has driven demand. However, rising supply is not uniform across prime central London and there is not yet clear evidence that new demand will keep pace with any supply increase,’ he explained. He believes that part of the reason why new applicant levels are down is a growing trend among buyers to find the right property on the internet before registering. ‘Underlying demand remains strong but buyers have become more circumspect and stringent in their requirements due to the stamp duty increase. Demand is particularly strong for properties in the best condition and on a prime floor, street or square,’ said Bill. ‘So, while the anticipated gear change materialised as summer moved into autumn, there was no sense the market is entering full-blown recovery mode after what has been a subdued 2015,’ he added. Continue reading
UK viewers take just 38 minutes on average to decide to buy a property
On average it takes just 38 minutes to make a decision to buy a home and prospective buyers no longer spend as much time viewing, new research has found. It means that the average home buyer in the UK now spends less time than it takes to play one half of a football match, before making one of the biggest and most expensive decisions of their lives. With the vast amount of property and local information now available online, house hunters no longer need to spend hours viewing properties and interrogating estate agents before deciding on which property is right for them, say the research from online estate agent eMoov.co.uk. Property values, property purchase history, recently sold properties, photos, floor plans, Google street view, school catchment area, transport links, employment opportunities, crime rate, tax band and so much more is available at the click of a mouse. Nearly two thirds of people view a property on two occasions before making an offer to buy with 10% doing so after just one viewing and only 29% returning to a property more than twice. The research reveals women take slightly less time at 38 minutes than men at 39 minutes when viewing a property before deciding to put in an offer. However men were more likely to make a snap decision with 11% of them choosing to put in an offer after just one viewing, compared to 9% for women. The survey found that those spending £500,000 or more on a property did manage to take two minutes longer on average before deciding to buy, probably sensible given the amount of money involved. However it realistically doesn’t matter if you are spending £100,000 or over £500,000, the property price tag is relative to your situation and the research shows that there is only a matter of minutes between making a decision across each price bracket. ‘The fact of the matter is people don’t need to spend as much time on the viewing process as they once did. The reason for this is simple, now when a potential buyer views a house, they are viewing the house and the house only,’ said Russell Quirk, the firm’s chief executive officer. ‘With the internet providing a wealth of information, they already know if a property will suit them from a practical point of view before stepping through the front door. Most potential buyers will know within the first sixty seconds whether or not it is the one for them and the majority of buyers tend to return for a second viewing just to validate their thinking,’ he added. The research found that after one viewing 10% make an offer, 61% do so after two viewings and 29% after three viewings. Some 13% take less than 13% to decide to make an offer, 36% take 15 to 30 minutes and 28% 30 to 45 minutes while 23% take longer. Continue reading
