Tag Archives: Homebuyers

A Trulia survey released Wednesday found that a key selling point for buyers are schools and areas that market quality schools. A good school district can be a determining factor for a buyer when purchasing a home, especially for families with children.

Zillow's Breakeven Horizon analysis determined that homebuyers who made the biggest financial gains over the last decade entered the market at its lowest point. The analysis found that homeowners can still break even on a home purchase in less than two years, even while many buyers who bought 10 years ago have not broke even.

The financial costs of delaying or forgoing a home purchase in today’s unexpected market have become very high, according to the inaugural Opportunity Cost Report released by Realtor.com, a leading provider of online real estate services operated by News Corp subsidiary Move, Inc.

Blackstone is the largest single private owner of residential homes in the U.S. with approximately 47,000 homes and about $90 billion in real estate assets. Schwarzman said his company is putting money into the housing market, although not as much as it was during the height of the financial crisis.

According to the survey, three of every 10 potential homebuyers intend to purchase a home in the next 18 months, and 62 percent think now is a better time to purchase than last year. In fact, 32 percent attribute their intent to buy to current low mortgage rates. Another 35 percent said if 30-year fixed mortgage rates were to rise above 4 percent, it would delay their purchase.

But these declining numbers are nothing new. The numbers of renters making the transition to homeownership has dropped consistently over the past couple of years, and rates have remained below 17 percent mark (the historical average) since 2008.

Affordability is worst in fast growing cities that have fallen behind in building homes to keep up with population growth. Currently the average U.S. homebuyer can expect to spend 15.3 percent of their monthly income on a mortgage payment.

As the housing recovery downshifts from last year's pace, the latest survey of real estate agents by national brokerage Redfin finds homebuyers and sellers are having trouble getting on the same page with each other and with the new shape of the market.

Many potential homebuyers are not in the market to buy because of feelings financial instability, according to a survey released by banking data firm RateWatch Thursday. The survey, Home Lending: Today's Customer, shows that 38 percent of non-homeowners making between $100,000 and $149,000 surveyed listed financial instability as a contributing factor for not buying a home. This was consistent across all income brackets studied.