First Time Buyers Optimistic, Homeowners Search for Solutions to Stay in Homes While half (52%) of all Americans are concerned they or someone they know will face foreclosure in the next six to 12 months, 23% of adults plan to purchase a home in the next five years, and more than half of them (53.5%) are first time homebuyers, according to a new survey commissioned by Move, Inc., the leader in online real estate and operator of www.Realtor.com(R).
Pent-Up Demand Increasing
The Move survey found the housing downturn, now entering its third year, has created significant demand for homeownership especially among first-time homebuyers. While 5.8% plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months, 12.8% of Americans say they plan to buy a home in the next two years and 11% plan to purchase a home in two to five years.
Over half of those planning to buy in 2009 are first-time homebuyers (53.5%). By comparison, 41% of homebuyers in 2008 were first-time homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors[1].
While 18.1% of homebuyers do plan to buy this year to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, nearly half (47.6%) said they didn't know about the credit and 29.3% said it wasn't large enough for them to act right now. Potential homebuyers with higher incomes are more interested in the tax credit than those in lower income brackets, as 43.4% of first-time buyers earning $50,000 or more say they plan to use the tax credit.
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