The Number of Buyers Actively Searching for Their ‘Dream Home’ Increase in Second Quarter of 2020

A deeper look into the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Trend Report (HTR) reveals that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, near record low mortgage rates have approximately 11% of adult Americans not only considering a future home purchase within the next year, but a majority of them are seriously and actively searching. The HTR also breaks down who is looking and where. 57% of Millennials are actively looking. The Boomers share by contrast is only 37%. Buyers in the Northeast are most active (57%), followed by the South (50%) the West (45%), the Midwest (44%). The HTR is also reporting that the search for that new ‘dream home’ is taking longer. In the second quarter of 2020, 59% of active buyers have spent 3-month or more looking, compared to 55% in the first quarter. Of note, this marks the sixth consecutive year-over-year gain in the share of active buyers looking for 3+ months for a home to buy.