Majority of Buyers Are Looking to Purchase New Homes

Homebuyers have flipped the script when it comes to purchasing new-homes versus existing homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Trends Report, 15% of adults said they were considering a home purchase in the fourth quarter of 2020. Of those looking to purchase, 41% said they were looking for a new home, while 30% said they were searching for an existing home. Another 29% had no preference. This is a sharp incline compared to the 2019 report where only 19% of buyers were searching specifically for a new home.

On the other hand, the share interested in an existing home declined from 40% to 30%, while the share indifferent to either type of home fell from 41% to 29%.

When broken down by generation, results show that 50% of Millennial and 48% of Gen X buyers are looking to buy a new home. In contrast, 50% of Boomers and 38% of Gen Z buyers would prefer to buy an existing home. Across regions, a majority of buyers in the Northeast (53%) and West (51%) would prefer a new home, far larger shares than in the South (33%) or the Midwest (24%). In fact, in the Midwest, a strong 46% plurality would prefer an existing home.

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