Housing Market Changes

Personal Changes

“Home, sweet home” is a popular phrase that shows how people feel about having a house. Many people like knowing that they own a house. Owning a house gives people a sense of accomplishment because the process of owning a house is hard work. Owning a house is a reminder of how hard work pays off. Generally, most people want to own a house sometime in their lifetime. The change in population and the demand for houses have caused changes in the housing market. Many factors influence change in the housing market, but what is important are the changes. The changes in the housing market can be seen through the prices of houses and the location in which the houses are bought.

Age of Buyers

When we think of homeowners, we may picture middle aged people with shades of gray hair and long-time successful job. When was the last time you daydreamed of moving out of the house to live in your own home you’ve personally financed yourself because you were sick and tired of living under your parents’ rule? I always pictured myself out of the house as soon as I’d graduate from college, but never fathomed it would be possible since there are so many barriers one may experience. Now in this day and age, that might not be the situation since more and younger people are buying homes. As ironic as this may seem because the prices for houses have increased in value by nearly 50% within the past decade, this isn’t stopping the people even as young as 25 from entering into the housing market. It has even been stated that, “Four in ten buyers are purchasing for the first time, and the median age of these first-time homeowners is 32.” (Anderson, 2006, p.90)

So what have critics been saying about this sudden change-of-age phenomenon? Let’s discuss further about some of the financial reasons that make buying houses easier for the young. One of the reasons that younger crowds are able to do this is because of zero down payment loans. Because of this, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance confirmed that, “The number of first-time buyers younger than 25 jumped from about 11% earlier in the decade to 14% last year, accounting for almost 6% of all home sales.” (Anderson, 2006, p.90) According to National Association of Realtors, their study concludes that, “Persistently low rates and confidence in the long-term housing market have propelled a larger percentage of first-time home buyers under age 25 to enter the market.” (Wedner, 2006, pp. K1)

To touch up on one of the other main factors that contribute to the younger buyers in the housing market, the change in the social norms and attitudes of a certain generation known as Generation X may be the reason. Before we go any further we must first know what the term Generation X is and how they’ve infiltrated the market. Wall Street Journal states Generation X as, “Those born between 1965 and 1979 and comprise a little more than half of the market for newly constructed homes.” These particular groups of people tend to have different mind sets which inevitably leave them inclined this type of lifestyle. One reason in particular is that they are not waiting to get married, and move out by themselves at a young age. This means that there has been an increase of people that live without a spouse or a roommate, which causes an increase in sales of houses. Wall Street Journal also states that Generation X is responsible for , “A 57% rise in single-parent households and a 26% decline in the percentage of married couples with kids вЂ" 23% last year compared with 31% in 1980 has further changed the housing market.” (Gerencher, 2006, p. 23)

A Different Shopping Experience

Whether it would be to check our email, surf the web for the purpose of our leisure, or research for a term paper due the next week, we are all familiar with the medium used to carry out these functions; the internet. Ever since the dawning of the millennium, all people alike have found more and more uses from the internet. We all know we’ve purchased a few items here or there from online stores. Some of us may have even dabbled with online auctions such as EBay. The internet is such a vast place filled with a limitless amount of information of all kinds, that there are no boundaries from what internet users can do.

Because of this, more and more people are experiencing personal changes regarding the way they shop for houses. As the California Association of Realtors stated, “The Internet buyer has become the typical homebuyer over the past few years.” To further explicate upon their statement, “Since 2001, the share of homebuyers using the Internet as an integral part of the home-buying process has nearly doubled to 70%.” (Thomas, 2006, p. 40)

With the help of the internet, home buyers no longer have to go out and spend countless hours driving around to do their homework. Instead, more and more people are using the internet in their very own homes to their convenience to shop. Not only do people save time using this method, the vast amount of information they need is at their fingertips. As the California Association of Realtors continued on with their research,