ANN ARBOR, Mich.–It increasingly looks like a good time for credit unions to promote their mortgage offerings, while also helping another segment of members move toward homeownership.
More Americans are saying now is a good time to be purchasing a home, driven by economic confidence and an awareness that rates are rising. In the latest consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan, the number of people who said that now is a good time to buy a home because of rising mortgage rates surged to the highest level in more than 20 years – one in five. That number, 20%, is actually down a bit from earlier surveys, but when those who responded “yes” to the question were asked why it’s a good time to purchase a home, many pointed to the direction of rates, meaning they are more motivated to enter the market.
The one issue for many of those in the market for a home, however, remains a low inventory of available housing.
Meanwhile, a separate survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors found that the share of renters and people living with family members who believe now is a good time to buy declined to 55% in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 58% in the third quarter and 63% at the beginning of last year. Many of those people are Millennials struggling to put together a down payment and/or dealing with student debt.
Nevertheless, the survey showed that 87% of “non-owners” want to own a home in the future.
Of the roughly 40% of people surveyed who don’t own a home and have student debt, more than half said they weren’t comfortable taking on a mortgage, the NAR survey found.
The NAR said it also found that nearly 90% of “non-owners” said they believed a down payment of 10% or more is necessary to buy a home, while the association’s research has found that the median down payment for a first-time buyer is 6%.