Profile of Today’s Home Buyers

Of all homes purchased during the past year, 88 percent utilized mortgage financing. The share jumped to 97 percent for millennials — those who are younger than 35.

But when it came to people where were
at least 69 years old, the share who financed their purchases fell to 61 percent.

Those were some of the findings of the
2015 National Association of Realtors Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends.

The 127-question survey was conducted in July 2014. More than 6,500 responses were received from buyers who bought a primary residence between July 2013 and June 2014..

Down payments for younger buyers most frequently came from savings, while older buyers were more likely to use proceeds from the sale of their last home.

The report indicated that more than a fifth of millennials delayed home purchases because of outstanding debt. Among this group, a majority cited student loan debt as the biggest obstacle.

When it came to the type of loan used to finance home purchases, younger buyers were more likely to utilize a high loan-to-value mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

But older buyers were more likely to finance their homes with loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Most home shoppers first search online for a property then utilize a real estate agent to make the purchase.

Millennials seemed to be the focus of much of the report.

For instance, that generation accounted for nearly a third of all buyers. They were the most likely group to use a Realtor.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, noted that millennial home buying would have been even greater if it weren’t for a number of obstacles.

“Many millennials have endured underemployment and sub-par wage growth, and rising rents and repaying student debt have made it very difficult to save for a down payment,” Yun stated in the report. “For some, even forming households of their own has been a challenge.”