An earlier post revealed that 63% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the 2nd quarter of 2022 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. The most common reason these long-term searchers cite for not having bought by now is their inability to find an affordable home (43%). In second place is getting outbid by other buyers (35%), followed by the inability to find a home in a desirable neighborhood (32%), or a home with desirable features (29%).
When asked what they are most likely to do next if still unable to find a home in the next few months, 46% of active buyers searching for 3+ months said they will continue looking for the ‘right’ home in the same location (down from 52% a quarter earlier); 38% will expand their search area (unchanged), 30% will accept a smaller/older home (up from 20%), and 26% will buy a more expensive home (up from 19%)
Meanwhile, the share who plan to give up their home search until next year or later was unchanged at 25% between the first and second quarters of 2022. This share has increased or remained flat in each of the past four quarters.
**Results come from the Housing Trends Report (HTR) – a research product created by the NAHB Economics team with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets. The HTR is produced quarterly to track changes in buyers’ perceptions over time. All data are derived from national polls of representative samples of American adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult. Results are seasonally adjusted. A description of the poll’s methodology and sample characteristics can be found here. This is the final post in a series of six highlighting results for the 2nd quarter of 2022.
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