Bye Bye, Miss American Pie
This week’s “pop” hit is the 1972 song by Don McLean “Bye Bye Miss American Pie.” Part of the American Dream has always been about home ownership. But it appears that this “dream” seems to be slowly going away based on recent statistics.
In 1980, the average age of the first-time home buyer was 29 years old, and they went on to purchase their next home by age 35. Today, the average first-time home buyer is now 35 years old and is not purchasing their next/move-up home until age 58! Part of this issue is that more and more young Americans are attending 4-year colleges, and then many are going onto some sort of Graduate degree, pushing them out of the “workforce” until their mid-20 to late 20’s. The other part is affordability. This has been a recent discussion and blamed for the housing business’ recent decline. Rates pushing 20-year highs and prices soaring to record levels keep many potential first-time home buyers out of the game for now. Homeownership creates pride in your community. Statistics show that areas of high homeownership concentrations have lower crime rates and higher educational ratings. All these things help move the economy in the right direction.
Hopefully, the Federal Reserve and our elected folks in Washington will start looking at what they have done to our “healthy” (their word, not mine) economy and begin to move rates down so more of our young Americans can afford the home of their dreams. 35 years old is the “average” age at which they purchase their first home. That is way too high and has a rippling effect throughout our overall economy. Housing has always led our economy in positive ways. I have already discussed the educational and safety benefits…but home ownership also creates jobs, and those with jobs spend money on goods and services that create other jobs. It is truly a simple concept.
Remember… the BEST RATE… IS A LOCKED RATE… with a float down… ask me about our program that allows you to lock your rate and then float down if rates move lower.
Make sure you (or your buyer) get pre-approved before looking at homes so we can determine if you are looking in the correct price range and have you armed to submit an offer with a pre-approval letter!
Thank you for reading this blog. I hope that the facts and insights I share provide value to you.
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Blog post date: Wednesday, July 24, 2024