Although only half of households surveyed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) believe the economy is improving, nearly all young renters eventually want to buy a home. Additionally, a newly introduced index tracking the financial outlook of households found that compared with earlier this year, an increasing share believes their personal financial situation will improve in the months ahead.
NAR’s inaugural quarterly household survey, Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME), tracks topical real estate trends, including current renters and homeowners’ views and aspirations regarding homeownership, whether or not it’s a good time to buy or sell a home, and expectations and experiences in the mortgage market, according to the NAR press release.
The HOME survey reveals that an overwhelming majority of current renters who are 34 years of age or younger want to own a home in the future (94 percent). Overall, 83 percent of polled renters have a desire to own, and 77 percent believe homeownership is part of their American Dream.
“Despite entering the workforce during or immediately after the worst of the financial and housing crisis, the desire to become a homeowner appears to be a personal goal for a convincing majority of young renters,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the release. “Furthermore, there appears to be sizeable, pent-up demand for buying that currently remains untapped because of a variety of economic and personal reasons impacting many households.”
The top two reasons given by renters for not currently owning was the inability to afford to buy (53 percent) and needing the flexibility of renting rather than owning (19 percent). When asked what would likely be the main reason for buying in the future, renters cited lifestyle considerations such as getting married, starting a family or retiring (33 percent) and an improvement in their financial situation (26 percent).