Survey shows PA consumers want to live in their homes at least 15 years

The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® (PAR) recently launched a new consumer survey project called Welcome Home.

These surveys, conducted by Keystone Analytics®, are being conducted on a quarterly basis and will provide information on a number of consumer buying trends specific to the Commonwealth. They’ll be asking questions about financing products used in the transaction, reasons behind the home purchase and challenges faced with the buying process. The Welcome Home project will help position PAR and our members as the source of valuable consumer information.

What did we learn from the first survey? Buying a home is a generational purchase and an aspiration for recent Pennsylvania homebuyers. Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicate that they want to live in their recently-purchased home for at least 15 years, and 46 percent hope to live in their new home for more than 25 years.

These results show that buying a home is still the American dream in Pennsylvania and that consumers value owning a home. We, as Realtors®, know that purchasing a home is the foundation of financial stability which helps build family wealth and strengthens communities.

A 30-year traditional mortgage remains the preferred way to finance a home purchase according to 47 percent of respondents. Cash purchases were the most common purchase method of retired respondents, with 38 percent of them using a cash-only purchase.

The survey showed that Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are an important option for first-time buyers. About 1 in 6 respondents under the age of 35 indicated they used an FHA loan to purchase their home. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) support of the new FHA policy lowering the cost of FHA’s mortgage insurance premiums made earlier this year has translated into an average savings of $900 a year for future homeowners.

The survey also found that:

• Relocation was the most commonly mentioned response for the main reason to buy a new home, with more than 1 in 3 respondents between age 35 and 49 citing it as their main reason to purchase a home. Other reasons given included: tired of renting, needed to downsize, expanded family, recently married, education/schools, second home, and income has grown.
• Homebuyers with children are almost 10 times more likely to say schools were their most important reason to move compared to homebuyers with no children at home.
• More than half of the consumers interviewed indicated they paid close attention to property taxes during their home search, with female respondents more likely to say that seeking a lower property tax bill was “one of the biggest reasons” they decided to buy a new home.
• The use of online resources for home searches for those surveyed lags the national average. realtor.com® was preferred by respondents between the ages of 35 and 64, while Zillow.com was the preferred service of homebuyers under age 35.

The Welcome Home project is expected to continue quarterly over the next three years. This will provide PAR and each of us with a tremendous opportunity to track trends of Pennsylvania homebuyers and apply them to our businesses. I’m looking forward to learning more about what homebuyers are considering.