Actively-looking buyers report taking longer to purchase

Homebuyers are taking longer to find their dream home, according to a recent report from the National Association of Home Builders.

The report found that 14 percent of people are planning to purchase a home in the next 12 months, and 49 percent of buyers are ‘actively’ looking for a home, with millennials leading the pack at 51 percent, followed by Generation X at 49 percent and baby boomers at 46 percent. Fifty-three percent of buyers said they have spent three months or longer looking for a home in the second quarter of 2018, up 2 percent from the first quarter, but down 9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017.

The top reason people are delaying the purchase of a home is that they are holding out for their wants and needs. Fifty-five percent of buyers said they will continue looking until the right home opens up in their desired location, while 34 percent plan to expand their search area after looking for more than three months. Nearly a quarter of buyers said they plan to buy a smaller or older house than they had originally planned, while 19 percent plan to spend more. Only 16 percent plan to give up their search until next year.

However, in Pennsylvania,  it took less than a month to find a home for more than a quarter of first-time Pennsylvania homebuyers, according to the Welcome Home survey, and  30 percent of baby boomers reported it took them less than a month from starting their home search to closing. Twenty-seven percent of buyers under 50 said their process took that long.