First time buyers’ sentiment
In a survey conducted in March by national brokerage Century21, just over 700 first time buyers and sellers were surveyed online with 80% responding that they believe now is a good time to buy a home and that the market is more affordable now than at this time last year.
Even better news for real estate agents is that 60% of respondents said they don’t feel that they have “a good handle on the real estate process” and 85% believe that using a real estate professional is important.
The survey noted that the top three skills valued in Realtors (by buyers and sellers alike) are knowledge of the area, trustworthiness and responsiveness.
First time buyers rated the three most influential factors in their decision to enter the market and buy a home as current housing prices (66%), the home buyer tax credit (63%) and low interest rates (60%), showing a high number of respondents that acutely aware of general market conditions like the tax credit and interest rates.
First time sellers’ sentiments
Home prices were the reason given for 50% of first time sellers to move up and the reason for 37% to change neighborhoods, and 53% of sellers believe that home prices will go up within the next year.
87% of first time buyers and 85% of first time sellers feel that getting a mortgage today is either somewhat difficult or very difficult.
This data appears mostly consistent with the Fannie Mae survey of current homeowners, showing sentiment is currently positive toward real estate buying and selling and the Campbell/Inside Mortgage survey finding first time buyer activity on the rise.
The full first time buyer and seller survey:
CC Licensed image courtesy of monkeyjenn via Flickr.com.
Joe Loomer
April 22, 2010 at 7:07 am
“the home buyer tax credit (63%)” – does this mean 63% of First Time Homebuyers won’t buy a home after 1 May? With statistics from all sources showing 1st Timers making up 48%-52% of all sales, what does this hold for the summer selling season with the expiration looming? Does that number fall back (naturally) to the 38%-42% level of a “normal” market? Will repeat buyers make up the difference? Either way, my opinion is this isn’t necessarily good news – although it is somewhat edifying to see the reliance on advice from a real estate professional receiving good props.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Benn Rosales
April 22, 2010 at 11:22 am
This survey is packed with messaging opportunities for agents and is a fantastic survey. It’s to bad that most agents won’t use this tool to retool their marketing.