Dive Brief:
- In the latest Redfin Homebuyer Survey, one in four homebuyers said high rent is the primary catalyst in their decision to buy a home — up from one in five in November and one in eight last August. The only factor cited more frequently, Redfin reported, is a life event like the birth of a child or marriage.
- 20% percent of buyers surveyed said they are concerned about low inventory, up 4% from last quarter, and 16% of respondents said there is too much vying against other buyers for homes, up 5% from last quarter.
- The Redfin survey also discovered that 31% of buyers feel newfound pressure to move on a house before prices or mortgage rates increase, down 1% from last quarter, and 33% said they are ready to buy now.
Dive Insight:
Other findings from the survey: 53% of buyers said they are expecting an increase in home prices very soon, compared to only 48% in the previous survey.13% of those expecting rising prices said they believe the increase will be significant.
Now that the Federal Reserve's much-anticipated interest rate hike has happened, buyers said they are sure rates will stay about the same, at least for the next six months. Only 10% felt rates might increase significantly.
2015 saw a 1.8 million increase in renter households, and renters paid almost $20 billion more in 2015 than they did in 2014, bringing total rent paid last year to a total of $535 billion, according to a January Zillow report.
The survey participants' answers echo ongoing concerns about availability and rising home prices. A recent Realtor.com report found that low inventory resulted in a rise in their median list price to $230,000 in February, up 1% from January and 8% from February 2015.
And earlier this week, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said January's decline in pending home sales was likely due to home price growth and a lack of inventory.
