The 2011 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers survey results has just been published. My take-away from the stats is that people are returning to a little more conservatism in their purchase habits. That is a good thing given the rather reckless spending that occurred in the early part of the decade that ultimately led to people losing their homes.
- 78% believe their home is a good investment and 45% believe it’s better than stocks.
First-Time Buyers
- Median age was 31. Median income was $62,400, up from $59,900 in the 2010 survey.
- They typically purchased a 1570 sq ft home costing $155,000.
- Their typical monthly P&I payment was $794.
- Their median down payment was 5%.
Repeat Buyers
- Median age was 53. Median income was $96,600, up from $87,000 in the 2010 survey.
- They typically purchased a 2100 sq ft home costing $219,500.
- Their typical monthly P&I payment was $1006.
- Their median down payment was 15%.
All Buyers Collectively
- 64% are married couples; 18% are single women; 10% are single men; 7% are unmarried couples; and 1% are “other”.
- Last year survey results were 58% – 20% – 12% – 8% – 1% respectively. NAR suggests that the increase in married couples points to married couples with their dual incomes being better positioned for a mortgage in the tight credit environment.
- 77% purchased a single-family home; 9% purchased a condo, 8% bought a townhouse; and 6% bought another type of housing.
- The typical home had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.
- 51% of the homes were in a suburb or subdivision. 18% were in an urban area. 18% were in a small town. 11% were in a rural area. 3% were in a resort/recreational area.
- 89% used a real estate agent to buy. 7% bought direct from the builder.
- When asked where they first learned about the home they PURCHASED, 40% replied the Internet; 35% from real estate agent; 11% yard sign/open house; 6% friend/neighbor/relative; 5% home builder; 2% print/newspaper ad; 2% direct from seller; and less than 1% from a home book or magazine.
Details about the survey
NAR mailed an 8-page questionnaire in July/August 2011 to a national sample of 81,099 home buyers & sellers who purchased their homes between July 2010 thru June 2011. From the sample, there were 5,708 usable responses, giving a 7.3% response rate.
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You would have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard at least one Realtor® or mortgage broker say that it’s a good time to buy a home or refi your current mortgage. Like many others, I decided it was time to refi my home’s mortgage. My current loan is at 5-1/8%. My goal on a refi was 4% or lower to make it worthwhile to pay the closing costs. Here’s the process I went through.
Another idiotic idea from a politician
Fortunately, Twitter provides information on what’s REALLY going on since the mainstream media is too focused on what Hollywood is doing. Here’s a story that you won’t see on the evening news until it’s too late.
Nebraska Congressman proposing a bill to permit robo calls to cellphones
Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb) is sponsoring a bill that would loosen restrictions on telemarketing calls to cellphones. Here’s his reasoning:
The way he describes the “information”, I think it would be similar to the CODE RED calls that I’ve signed up for from Delaware County to alert me to dangerous weather. I decided to give the CodeRed website my cell number all by myself without any intervention required by the government. I don’t “badly need” or want the government deciding that for me.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore) said that “now most consumers have buckets of minutes so receiving an additional call costs them nothing“. Maybe HE has buckets of minutes because the Oregon taxpayers are probably paying HIS cell phone, but most people still have limited plans.
Don’t know about you, but I already get robo calls to my cell even though the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits automated dialing to mobile phones. I currently have 20 such numbers programmed into my cell to block them because they’re spam calls made from bogus numbers, so the do-not-call system doesn’t work.
Walden says he has no intention of “unleashing telemarketers on us”. How many of you believe that if this bill passes, it will only be a matter of time until politicians are excluded and thus, allowed to make their obnoxious robo calls during political elections. If Reps Terry and Walden continue pushing this bill, then I want to know THEIR cell number!
I also wonder why anyone in DC is working on such a worthless bill when they should be working on ways to reduce the deficit, taxes and regulations to help small businesses so they can create jobs for people. Where are their priorities!
Stepping off my soapbox now …
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Posted in Central Ohio, Commentary, Media, Television, Transportation
Tagged House Energy & Commerce subcommittee, mainstream media, Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011, politicians robo calls, Rep Greg Walden, Rep Lee Terry