Home prices are consumers’ biggest concern, survey shows

High prices and competition from other buyers were buyers’ top housing concerns for the second quarter of 2015, according to a new survey by Redfin.

Inventory landed in third, with selling a current home and saving for a down payment finishing out the top five.

Last year’s home buyers’ cited inventory as their number one concern, and also included mortgage rates and fatigue as their concerns.

This year, 26 percent of the more than 3,500 buyers surveyed cited high or rising prices as their biggest concern, followed by 17 percent who are concerned about competition from other buyers.

According to Redfin, this concern is warranted, as home prices were up 5 percent in June 2015, compared to June 2014. Additionally, competition from other buyers increased 1.3 percent, from 54 to 55.3 percent in a year.

First-time buyers are concerned about price growth, with 31 percent listing it as their main concern.

Of repeat buyers, 44 percent reported they plan to sell before they buy up, which is an increase of 23 percent compared to 2014.

Selling first allows buyers to be more strategic in a “fierce” marketplace, according to Redfin.

“Buyers want to do everything possible to be competitive,” said Stuart Naranch, a Redfin agent in Washington, D.C. “One way to do that is avoid making an offer contingent on the sale of their current home.”

While it hasn’t been a total buyers’ market, 44 percent of buyers in the survey believe home prices will remain the same or fall in the next six months, up from 29 percent a year ago. Fewer than 10 percent expect prices to rise more than 5 percent.