Our nation’s heroes are increasingly optimistic about buying homes, new research indicates.
The amount of veterans and service members who plan to purchase a home in the next six months was up by 15 percentage points year-over-year, according to the Veterans Homebuying Report released this week by Veterans United Home Loans.
The quarterly national survey, conducted over the first half of March, found 42% of respondents planned to purchase a home by the end of September 2024.
"Buyers are starting to come to terms with the current environment. Rather than waiting for interest rates to drop, they are more focused on being able to get the house that they want and whether they can make the monthly payment work," said Chris Birk, vice president of mortgage insight at Veterans United. "Sellers, a majority of whom will also be buyers, are optimistic about getting the price they want, but realize their money won't go far when purchasing their next home."
Among would-be buyers overall, 71% plan to buy in the next 12 months, up slightly from last quarter. Nearly a third (31%) are willing to increase their budget to get the home they desire, compared to 24% last quarter.
Sellers continue to be optimistic about getting the sale price they are after (69%) and whether now is a good time to sell (77%). At the same time, an increasing number of sellers (31%) expressed concern about getting top dollar for their home because of high interest rates, up from 25% three months ago.
The 600 veterans and service members who participated in the survey are more optimistic about the nation’s economic conditions as well.
More respondents expect interest rates, inflation and the economy overall to improve than around this time last year, when the economic outlook score was 14 points lower.
For the first time, fewer than half of Veterans (47%) feel inflation will continue to rise over the next year, which suggests more would-be buyers believe the economy's health is improving. About 64% of buyers expect to be better off financially in the next 12 months, up from 56% in the third quarter. In all, 55% feel capable of getting a new mortgage right now, which is an increase from 49% in the fourth quarter.
When asked what would lead to purchasing sooner, "more inventory in the area I'm looking" had the biggest gain among respondents, (34%) up seven points from last quarter. Lower interest rates continued to rank as the top reason for purchasing sooner, (57%) up three points from last quarter.
