ABA Banking Journal
Most first-time homebuyers are approaching homeownership with a long-term mindset, according to Bank of America’s first-ever Homebuyer Insights Report released today. Sixty-nine percent said they would rather wait to purchase a home that was nicer and would meet their future needs, compared to 31 percent who would move into a starter home now. Owning a single-family home in the suburbs was the most common goal among buyers, including 52 percent of first-time buyers.
Homeownership continues to be a top goal among consumers. For many first-time homebuyers, emotional factors were more likely to influence their decision than financial ones; 52 percent said that “wanting a place to call their own” was a key motivating factor, and among millennials, 58 percent associate homeownership with “adulthood.”
Cost was ranked the most important factor for homebuyers when considering a purchase, though the survey noted that homebuyers are sticking to their budgets — 65 percent of buyers said their total costs were what they had expected. Two-thirds of millennial homebuyers said they expect to have some type of help from their parents when buying a home, including money for a down payment, furnishing the home or help with a monthly mortgage. First-time homebuyers also expressed an interest in tools to help them save, with 85 percent willing to use an automatic savings tool to take money from each paycheck.