- theMReport.com - https://themreport.com -

Homeownership and the Military

As the nation honors the legacy of our military, both those currently serving and those who served before, a newly released study examines trends among military homeownership.

The National Association of REALTORS Research Group has released a new report entitled “Veterans & Active Military Home Buyers Profile.” To give a little perspective, active-duty military make up two percent of all American homebuyers. Veterans make up 17 percent, and 81 percent are non-military.

The average active-duty military homebuyer is quite a bit younger than the average non-military homebuyer—34 years old for active military versus 42 years old for non-military. Active-duty military homebuyers are also more likely to be married, have multiple children living in the household, and purchase a larger home than non-military homebuyers.

Fully half of all active-duty homebuyers are first-time buyers, and 68 percent are first-time sellers. For veterans, 19 percent are first-time buyers and 26 percent are first-time sellers. Among non-military, 35 percent are first-time buyers and 39 percent are first-time sellers.

Active-duty military homebuyers do have a lower median income than non-military buyers at $84,000. However, they do have other advantages—both stable job security and no-down-payment financing options. A full 56 percent of active-duty homebuyers put no money down when purchasing a home, and 41 percent of veterans. For comparison’s sake, only seven percent of non-military buyers are able to make use of no-down-payment financing options.

Among active-duty military who financed their home, 77 percent used a VA loan and 15 percent used a conventional loan. For veterans, 58 percent used a VA loan and 33 percent used a conventional loan.

Among active-duty military asked why they planned to move in the future, 82 percent said they would move in the future because of their job. Thirty-three percent said they would move in order to flip their house, and 11 percent cited finding a better neighborhood as a reason to move.

To read more about the state of military homeownership, click here [1].