As mortgage interest rates slowly tick down, who are today’s home buyers and what motivates them to make a purchase?
Recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis of the latest American Housing Survey (AHS) provides insight into recent home buyers and the home buying process. Conducted in odd-numbered years by the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2021 AHS studied 10.2 million households that bought a home in the previous two years.
Of the 10.2 million households, 40% were buying their first home, while 7% were purchasing a new home. In general, new home buyers are older, make more money, and are purchasing bigger, more expensive homes. On the other hand, first-time home buyers are younger, make less money, and are purchasing smaller, less expensive homes.
Home buyers said the top two reasons for choosing a home were ‘for a better home’ (60%) and ‘a better neighborhood’ (49%). Household formulation was third. More first-time home buyers reported forming a new household as the top reason for moving compared to buyers who purchased new homes seeking a better neighborhood.
The survey also asked about the size of homes and found that newly built homes tend to be larger. Nearly a quarter (24%) of new homes were between 1,500 to 1,999 sq. ft. and 23% were between 3,000 to 3,999 sq. ft. Compared to newly built homes, homes purchased by first-time buyers tend to be relatively smaller, with 31.6% homes between 1,000 to 1,499 sq. ft. The median size of new homes is 2,334 sq. ft. while the median size of homes bought by first-time buyers is 1,669 sq. ft.
Saving money to purchase a home is an important part of the process. The survey results provided insights on how much money buyers allocated to down payments. NAHB analysis found that half (50%) of all buyers had a down payment of 0 to 20%. Only 18% purchased their home without a down payment. Among all recent home buyers, first-time buyers had relatively smaller down payments. A majority (82%) of first-time home buyers put no more than 20% down. 
As single-family home construction expands this year and interest rates become favorable, many individuals and families may start planning to buy a new home.
Contact your local home builders association HERE to learn about new homes available your area.