Who these homebuyers are
The big drop in U.S. home buying last year came because everyone was pulling back -- primary-residence purchasers, vacation-home buyers and real estate investors. That's according to a survey released today by the National Association of Realtors that looks at sales of all homes, new and existing.
The trade group said the biggest decrease came in vacation-home sales, down 31 percent in 2007. Investment-home sales dropped 18 percent, while primary-home sales fell the least -- 10 percent.
Total sales in each category last year: 740,000 vacation homes; 1.35 million investment homes; and about 4.3 million primary-residence homes.
In all, vacation- and investment homes were 33 percent of sales, down from 36 percent in 2006, the NAR said.
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Comments
I have actually heard that now is a good time to buy, while the interest rates are low and the market is down. You can get better deals and make good investments. I have been looking at www.makaicondos.com in Ocean City for my next investment. Check them out!
Posted by: Angela | April 5, 2008 5:41 PM
The prices of condos climbed so astronomically high in Ocean City during the boom, higher that most other locations in MD, that it's no big surprise that investment, secondary, and luckury homes are not what people are buying. We're in a market downturn at the moment, so I don't see any big surprise that unnecessary purchases are not as popular right now.
Posted by: Jonathan Benya | April 8, 2008 2:07 PM