According to a recent survey from Redfin, the share of homebuyers who said they are more inclined to buy now increased 10.1 percentage points from last year, to 43 percent.
Buyers are acting fast before prices and mortgage rates rise to unaffordable levels. Nearly half of the survey’s respondents said that they expect rates to increase slightly, but 22 percent feel that rates will go up significantly.
A little more than a quarter of buyers said that a major life event, such as children or marriage, had the biggest influence in their decision to buy a house. Another quarter said that they no longer wished to rent.
Redfin said that its real estate agents have reported an uptick in buyer urgency this year.
“We’re also seeing historically low inventory; there aren’t enough people putting their homes up for sale,” said Redfin real estate agent Jenn Kim in Chicago. “So you have extra buyers and far fewer sellers than in a balanced market. Anything priced well is finding a buyer almost instantly. I recently relisted several properties that I initially listed in the fall. In the new year, there was far more interest and they all got multiple offers.”
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