Landscape Architect Articles

Home Buying Rising, Survey Shows07-21-15 | News

Home Buying Rising, Survey Shows

The most recent American Housing Survey indicates 13.7 million homes were purchased in the two years prior to the time the survey was completed in 2013. That is more than double the number of home purchases registered in the 2011 survey. The 2013 AHS was released in July 2015.

U.S. households are jumping back into the home buying arena, according to a 2013 American Housing Survey.

The AHS is financed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted in odd-numbered years by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Previous surveys show the number of households purchasing homes had declined between 2005-2011, with 6.8 million buyers in the two years leading up to the 2011 survey.

Results of the 2013 survey, released in July 2015, show the number of buys has more than doubled to 13.7 million, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

"This works out to about 19 percent of all homeowners, up from only 10 percent in 2011," the NAHB, which frequently uses AHS data to interpret housing market trends, said.

"The number of recent buyers and share of owners who bought their homes recently were both higher in 2013 than at any time since 2001," the NAHB added.

Here are some key findings about the 13.7 million buyers:

• 11 percent of them purchased a new home, up from a low of 8 percent in 2011.
• 43 percent purchased their first home, down from a peak of 46 percent in 2011.
• The median buyer was 40 years old with an income of $69,974.
• The median first-time buyer was 32 years old with an income of $62,987.
• The median new homebuyer was 40 years old, with an income of $84,987.
  Key findings about the 13.7 million homes they purchased:
• The median value of the homes purchased was $168,000.
  "Although the median value of homes purchased has been decreasing since its peak in 2007, the rate of decline is   slowing down," the NAHB said. "The median value dropped $35,000 between 2007 and 2009, $10,000 between   2009 and 2011, and only $2,000 between 2011 and 2013."
• The median value of new homes purchased was $231,000 in 2013, essentially unchanged from $230,000 in both 2009   and 2011.
• The median value of a home purchased by a first-time buyer was $146,000, essentially unchanged from $147,000 in   2011.