When you thumb through this year’s comprehensive housing report on the identities and motivations of U.S. home buyers and sellers, you are reminded anew of how wide-ranging the results turn out to be. It’s a truism among Houston housing industry professionals that you can’t predict just who the ultimate buyer of any property will be—young, old, in-between? It is wisest to create a marketing campaign that appeals to as broad a swath of the public as possible.
The National Association of Realtors® 2023 edition of their Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report provides the latest word on the subject. It is short on surprises.
For instance, Millenials (ages 24-42) were having trouble becoming first-time homebuyers, while a greater percentage of buyers belonged to the Boomer generation (ages 58-76). Since a large proportion of Boomers already own a house, they can use the equity from its sale to buy a new one, so that’s a given. Since many Millennials are saddled with student debt, the result is naturally to delay their first home purchase.
As always, mathematically pinning down the motivations of homebuyers is a thankless task. Let’s face it: why anyone chooses to buy a house is likely to result from a combination of circumstances in addition to the personal motives of what is often a pair (or more) of buyers—so publishing a chart like “Primary Reason for Purchasing a Home” yields percentages that are actually more squishy than the statisticians would wish. Clustered as equal motivations (at 8% of respondents) are “Retirement,” “Desire for a home in a better area,” “Desire for a smaller home,” and, in a near-tie (7%): “Desire for a larger home.”
Just two Reasons claim larger percentages. “Desire to be closer to family/friends/relatives” gets a 13% chunk, although the difference between ‘family’ and ‘relatives’ begs for a footnote. Also, the greatest number of respondents apparently answered, “Desire to own a home of my own,” a head-scratcher which it’s safe to say accounts for a hefty portion of homebuyer motivation. Helping you make the most of your own Houston housing initiatives is always my motivation—call Rinnovare Realty, LLC at (832) 445-4957 or visit us at www.rinnovarerealty.com.