RISMEDIA, May 12, 2010—The majority of people looking for, or considering buying, a home had no plans to take advantage of the first-time or move-up/repeat home buyer tax credits, according to a survey recently released from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
The survey, conducted earlier this year, was designed to identify factors affecting today’s home-buying decisions. It drew responses from among those across the country who are searching or saving for a new home, or who recently purchased a new home.
Of those respondents who are looking for, or considering buying, a home, nearly two-thirds (63%) believe it is a “buyer’s market,” more than half (54%) feel that mortgage rates are affordable, and 70 percent indicate that there are affordable homes on the market. Just about half (49%) feel that the economy gives them the ability to negotiate more than usual. However, only 39 percent surveyed said they had planned to take advantage of the tax credit before it expired on April 30, 2010.
“There has been a lot of speculation about the housing market after the tax credit extension expired,” said Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. “The tax credit was truly a great motivating factor, with many home buyers taking advantage. However, we found that the tax credit was only one motivation. People buy homes for lifestyle reasons as well and I suspect that the normal seasonality patterns of home buying will still play out now that the tax credit has expired.”
The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate survey was conducted online during the fourth week of February 2010 by Amplitude Research, Inc. The survey results referred to above were based on 422 out of 600 respondents with a maximum sampling error of +/- 4.8% at the 95% confidence level. More information about Amplitude Research may be found at http://www.amplituderesearch.com.
For more information, please visit www.BHGRealEstate.com.
