Older Americans are choosing to age in their current homes, driving average tenure up to more than a decade and keeping inventory tight for buyers.
The typical homeowner spent 11.9 years in their current home, nearly double the 6.5-year average of two decades ago, according to a new report from Redfin.
This isn’t the longest on record – tenure peaked at 13.4 years in 2020 and declined during the pandemic buying boom. But it remains high, especially at a moment when inventory is difficult to come by.
The report attributes the data to Baby Boomers remaining in their homes late in life. Nearly 40% of this demographic have lived in their home for at least 20 years. An additional 16%…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY and KIMBERLEY HAAS
A recent report from Redfin shows that Baby Boomers with empty nests own double the amount of large homes compared to Millennials with kids. So what if Grandma and Grandpa moved into an accessory dwelling unit and the three generations lived together so everyone could have some space?
According to the report, Millennials with kids own 14% of the nation’s large homes, which are defined as having three or more bedrooms. Baby Boomers living by themselves or with one other person own 28% of these properties.
Partially to blame is affordability. 2023 was the least affordable year for homebuying on record, with median-priced homes costing about $410,000, according to Redfin. Additionally, 54% of…
By ERIN FLYNN JAY
American homebuyers are getting older and industry leaders are preparing to welcome more Hispanic homeowners in the coming decades.
According to the 2023 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report by the National Association of Realtors, members of Gen X between 43 and 57 years old made up 24% of recent buyers. They were followed closely by younger Baby Boomers who, between 58 and 67 years old, represented 23% of recent buyers.
Older Millenials between the ages of 33 and 42 accounted for just 16% of recent purchases.
The typical first-time homebuyer is 36, and the typical repeat buyer’s age climbed to 59 last year. Those are the highest ages recorded, a press release for NAR’s…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS New data shows that 79% of Americans would rather renovate their current home than move to a different one and with $420 billion spent on remodeling projects in 2020 those in the mortgage, real estate, and building industries are taking notice. Discover Home Loans commissioned a national survey of 1,531 homeowners. The independent survey research firm Dynata fielded the first of the online surveys in January and found that nearly four in five people would rather make improvements on their homes than move in the current housing market. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/-3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. The top five reasons given for why homeowners would rather renovate are:…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The typical American spends between five and six hours a day on their mobile phone so mortgage companies are developing new technologies to help them meet customers where they are. Brett Bivenour, Chief Technology Officer at Nationwide Mortgage Bankers in Melville, New York, explained during an interview with The Mortgage Note last week that for too long, the process seemed arduous for the average person. Even prior to the pandemic, consumer expectations about what they could do online had shifted because of what was happening outside his industry, he said. “As more and more aspects of people’s everyday lives were happening online, that certainly influenced their expectations of what it looks like to get a mortgage in…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A report released this month suggests that despite rising home prices it is more affordable to own a median-priced house than to rent a three-bedroom property in a majority of the United States. ATTOM’s 2022 Rental Affordability Report used fair-market rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and sales deed data in 1,154 counties to find that home ownership will be more affordable in a majority of the country again in 2022. Todd Teta, Chief Product Officer at ATTOM, said home ownership still remains the more affordable option for average workers because it takes up a smaller portion of their pay when the math is…
Lenders don’t feel optimistic about their future profit margins, with 65% reporting they believe their profit margins will shrink in the next three months, according to Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey. The share of lenders who feel pessimistic about future profits rose by 19% from Q3, citing competition from other lenders and changing market trends. If they prove right, next quarter will mark the fifth consecutive quarter of profit declines. “This quarter’s MLSS results suggest that the housing market may be poised to return to a more ‘normal’ state in the new year, following the boom experienced over the past two years due to historically low mortgage rates and pandemic-related changes in homebuyer behavior,” said Fannie Mae Senior Vice…
