An earlier post revealed that only 12% of adults polled in the second quarter of 2019 are prospective home buyers (they are planning to buy a home in the next year). The poll asked these buyers to estimate the share of homes available for-sale in their markets they believed they could afford. As the graph below shows, affordability expectations are poor, as a strong majority of 80% believe they can afford fewer than half the homes currently available. This share is higher than it was a year earlier (76%). Meanwhile, only 20% of buyers can afford most of the homes for-sale in their markets, down from 24% a year earlier.
Across generations, most buyers of all age groups say they can afford fewer than half the homes for-sale in their markets, with the share ranging from 77% of Gen X’ers to 85% of Seniors. Similarly, at least 78% of buyers in every region of the country share that same low affordability perception.
* The Housing Trends Report (HTR) is a research product created by the NAHB Economics team with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets. The HTR is produced quarterly to track changes in buyers’ perceptions over time. All data are derived from national polls of representative samples of American adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult. Results are not seasonally adjusted due to the short-time horizon of the series, and therefore only year-over-year comparisons are statistically valid. A description of the poll’s methodology and sample characteristics can be found here. This is the third in a series of five posts highlighting results for the second quarter of 2019. See previous posts on plans to buy and housing availability.