Millennials Are Skipping Starter Homes for Their Dream Home

A new trend has begun to emerge. With home prices skyrocketing in the starter home category, many first-time homebuyers are skipping the traditional starter homes and moving right into their dream homes.

What’s a Starter Home?

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), simply put, a starter home is a one or two-bedroom home (sometimes even a small, three bedroom). “Prices vary widely by market but starters on average cost $150,000 to $250,000 while trade-up and premium homes cost upwards of $300,000.”

Finding Their Forever Homes Now

A recent CNBC article revealed that there are many factors that delayed older millennials (ages 25-35) from buying a home earlier in their lives. The aftereffects of the Great Recession teaming up with larger education costs forced many to either remain living in their parent’s homes or to rent. With the economy continuing to improve, many millennials have been able to break into better-paying jobs which has helped spur down payment savings. As the dream of homeownership comes closer to reality, many millennials are saving for their forever homes.

According to the latest statistics from NAR, 30% of millennials bought homes for $300,000 or more this year (up from 14% in 2013). Diane Swonk, Chief Economist at Grant Thornton weighed in saying, “They rented for longer. Now they’re going to where they want to stay.”

More and more millennials are settling down, getting married, and starting families, which is a huge factor driving them to look for larger homes.

Increased competition in the starter home market has also been a driving force in waiting to afford their dream homes. Inventory in the starter home market is down 14.2% from last year, according to research from Trulia. This has driven prices up and has led to bidding wars. Many first-time buyers who were originally looking for starter homes are realizing that for just a little bit more of an investment, they could afford trade-up or premium homes instead.

Americans Say Now Is The Time To Buy

Every month, Fannie Mae surveys Americans to better understand how they view the housing market, their personal finances, and the overall economy. Their Home Purchase Sentiment Index is a measure of how people around the country feel about buying or selling a home. And, according to the most recent results, they currently feel like it’s time to buy. In fact, there was a 10 percent increase in the number of respondents who said they felt like it was the right time compared to February’s survey. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s senior vice president and chief economist, says sentiment has been volatile lately. “The HPSI’s recent run of volatility continued in March, as it recovered last month’s loss and remained within the five-point range of the past twelve months,” Duncan said. “The primary driver of this month’s increase was the sizable rise in the net share of consumers who think it’s a good time to buy a home, which returned the indicator to its year-ago level.” Boosted optimism about buying a house may be due to the spring buying season or perhaps a feeling among potential buyers that affordability conditions may worsen if they wait. More here.

High-End Neighborhoods Make Most Popular List

When searching online listings for homes to buy, it is sometimes difficult not to wander outside of your price range for a look at houses you’d love but can’t afford. This is true no matter what your particular price range might be. There will always be a house just out of your reach that’ll catch your curiosity. And the internet has made it easier than ever to get a glance of the high-end homes you’d previously only be able to see from the road. Proof of this can be found in a recent analysis of the country’s most popular neighborhoods based on page views. The top 20 features the nation’s most desirable addresses in some of the most exclusive zip codes. The Oaks in Los Angeles was the top neighborhood, followed by places like Tuxedo Park in Atlanta, Presidio Heights in San Francisco, and New York’s Crestwood neighborhood. But, in this case, the number of views a particular house or neighborhood receives isn’t likely to reflect an increase in the number of potential buyers. More likely, these neighborhoods reflect – not where Americans are buying homes – but where they dream of buying homes. More here.

Prices Below Peak In Nearly Half Of All Markets

If you’ve been at all interested in shopping for a home, you’ve likely heard news about rising home prices. Since the housing crash, home values have rebounded and, in some areas, the climb has been quick. However, news about increasing prices should be measured against how far they fell. In other words, though prices have rebounded, they are still below their previous peaks in many markets. In fact, according to recent numbers from ATTOM Data Solutions, median home prices are still below their pre-recession peaks in 46 percent of the 105 metro areas analyzed – including cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Tucson, Las Vegas, and New York-Newark-Jersey City. That’s why it’s always a good idea to look into where prices are in the specific neighborhoods where you’d most be interested in buying. Price increases will vary from one city to the next. So there may still be opportunities for buyers in the areas you’d like to live, despite home prices’ overall upward trend. More here.

How Mortgage Rate Increases Affect Home Buyers

Mortgage rates have been increasing lately and there is an expectation that they will move higher this year. But while home prices get a lot of attention, rising mortgage rates are a little more difficult for buyers to calculate in terms of what it will cost them. Here’s some help. According to one recent model, a less than one percent increase in mortgage rates over the next year would result in a $100 increase to the typical monthly mortgage payment. But since the costs of homeownership are influenced by many different factors, this projection has to make certain assumptions about things like the rate at which home prices will increase, for example. In other words, any increase to mortgage rates will cost home buyers but just how much is difficult to calculate precisely. So what should home buyers expect? Well, since a stronger economy and improved job market make it more likely that the Fed will raise interest rates further this year, buyers should expect that mortgage rates will remain low by historical standards but continue to edge higher, taking monthly mortgage payments higher along with them. More here.

More Home Buyers Sign Contracts In February

If you want to get a feel for how many home buyers there are currently active in the housing market, the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index is a good place to start. It tracks the number of contracts to buy homes signed during the month and, because it measures contract signings and not closings, it’s a good future indicator of where home sales will be a month or so down the road. In short, if there are a lot of pending sales, there will likely be a lot of final sales. Which is why, February’s results are a pretty good indication that the spring season is ramping up. Contract signings were up 3.1 percent in February and rebounded in all four regions of the country. The largest increase was in the Northeast, though pending sales also saw significant improvement in the South. Still, despite the gains, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says the pace falls short of last year’s level. “Contract signings rebounded in most areas in February but the gains were not enough to keep up with last February’s level, which was the second highest in over a decade,” Yun said. More here.