Potential Home Buyer Activity Increases in Q2 of 2022 After Three Consecutive Quarters of Declines

According to the latest Housing Trends Report (HTR)—a research product created by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) team, with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability of and affordable of home for sale-in their market—the number of potential home buyers who are actively engaged in the process of buying a home rose to 49% in Q2 of 2022.

The increase follows three consecutive quarters of declines. The HTR believes the change is the result of less competition from buyers who have exited the market, which in turn has encouraged those remaining to become more active buyers.

The HTR provides this regional picture: With the exception of the South, the number of potential buyers actively searching for home rose in every region between Q1 and Q2 of 2022. It increased from 50% to 54% in the Northeast, from 40% to 51% in the Midwest, and from 46% to 57% in the West.

In Q2 of 2022, the HTR reveals that the number of active buyers who have been looking for a home for 3+ months fell to 63%, down from 67% in Q1. The share is at its lowest point in almost two years (Q3 of 2020, when it was 62%). Before the pandemic (between the first quarters of 2018 and 2020), fewer than 60% of active buyers shopped for a home for 3+ months.