The National Association of REALTORS released a new study profiling home buyers and sellers in early November. Results show recent home buyers had higher incomes and higher downpayments than in recent years and were buying within their means. The typical first time home buyer paid 1.9% more for their homes than buyers did last year, yet their income was 4.2% higher than those buyers. Given the low interest rates and higher incomes, these home purchases show real affordability.
Some key points:
78% of recent home buyers surveyed said their home was a good investment
45% believe real estate is a better investment than stocks and most buyers believed in the long term value of homeownership. Do you agree? (see this for more on why people buy homes and homes vs stock market)
Median age of first time buyers was 31. How old were you when you bought your first house?
Median first time buyer income was $62,400
The typical first time home buyer bought an almost 1600 sq ft home costing $155,000
The average repeat buyer was 53 and earned almost $100,000. Repeat buyers typically purchased homes around 2,000 sq ft.
Downpayments ranged from 5% for first time buyers to 15% for repeat buyers – median downpayment of 11%
Downpayment sources ranges from: 79% tapped savings, 26% received a gift, 7% received a loan outside of a bank. Saving for a downpayment can take a long time. Here are some simple downpayment saving tips.
94% of entry-level buyers chose a fixed rate mortgage
64% of all buyers surveyed were married couples, 18% single women, 10% single men, 7% unmarried couples, 1% other
77% purchased a detached single family home
More than half considered buying a foreclosure but did not either because they could not find the right house or the poor condition and difficult process turned them off.
Now, it is hard to generalize buyers and sellers. But interesting to note some of the trends like almost 100% chose a fixed rate mortgage and that over three quarters of buyers considered their home a good investment.
If all this talk has you thinking about a new home for yourself, please see firstweber.com and search for real estate for sale in Wisconsin. Thank you for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog for information on the typical 2011 home buyer and seller.
photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/bossco/42734497/