Home Price Effects on First-Time Buyers and Sellers

•More than 80 percent of buyers believe now is a good time to buy a home.

•First-time home buyers rated the three most influential factors in their decision to enter the market and buy a home as current housing prices (66 percent), followed closely by both the home buyer tax credit (63 percent) and low interest rates (60 percent).

•Finding a home within a buyer’s price range is extremely important (95 percent), as is a neighborhood’s safety (90 percent).

•The top two factors influencing the first-timers’ decision to sell their homes were personal/family reasons and current housing prices – both of which were cited as motivating factors by 48 percent of first-time sellers.

•Most likely due to their experience, approximately half of first-time sellers (54 percent) think home prices are more affordable now than compared to this time last year.

•In fact, the current home prices have influenced 50 percent of sellers to “move up” and 37 percent to change neighborhoods.

•Sellers are mainly concerned about losing money on the sale of their home and receiving offers near their asking price.

•Approximately half of all first-time home buyers (48 percent) and sellers (53 percent) anticipate housing prices will increase over the next year.

Survey Results provided by Century 21 Corporate