More Buyers Expect an Easier Road to Homeownership Soon

Compared to one year ago, more buyers today are hopeful that their home search will become easier in the months ahead. Still, the majority share of homebuyers expect their home search to become harder or remain about the same, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ latest Housing Trends Report. In quarter one of 2020, 25% of buyers expected an easier home search while 33% of respondents today expect an easier road to homeownership. As positivity rose, pessimism slightly declined this year as 63% expected a more difficult or the same difficulty in months ahead in 2020 compared to 61% today.

The share of Millennial buyers who expect housing availability to ease up in the months ahead rose decisively between the first quarters of 2020 and 2021, from 26% to 42%. In contrast, the share declined slightly among the other generations.

Geographically, expectations that housing availability will ease up jumped up significantly in the Northeast (25% to 44%) and more moderately in the West (27% to 38%), while changing little in the Midwest and South.