The National Association of Realtors shared the following statistics which I find very interesting and wanted to share.
All About Buyers
2022 saw a shift in buyer demographics as younger buyers retreated from the market. First-time buyers made up only 26% of the market, down from last year’s 34%. NAR says this is the lowest share of first-time buyers since the data collection began.
The average age of both first-time and move-up buyers increased to the highest ever recorded at 36 and 59, respectively. And the rate of unmarried couples and multi-generational buyers surged as more people pooled their resources to make homeownership more affordable.
All About Sellers
Home sellers were significantly older in 2022 and were mostly those looking to move closer to friends and family. The average seller’s age was 60 up from 56 last year. The three most sited reasons for selling were:
- The desire to move closer to family and friends (21%)
- Retirement (11%)
- The neighborhood is less desirable (11%)
And despite the age of seller, nearly three quarters (73%) planned to upsize or buy a similar size home.
In Other News
Real estate agents continue to be an extremely important part of the buying and selling process with 86% of buyers and 91% of sellers being at least somewhat satisfied with their agent — 85% saying they would “definitely recommend” their agent.
Most buyers (88%) purchased previously owned homes and neighborhood quality was the most important factor for buyers at 49%. Even with the economic uncertainty, most buyers (88%) still see homeownership as a good financial investment.
And Now…..Top News Stories in Review for 2022
January: Economy changes and Inflation
In January the US saw the highest increase in inflation of 7% in nearly four decades. While we still were dealing with the fall out of Covid 19 and the Federal Stimulus spending it was a shot to everyone when inflation hit causing a dramatic shift in our market from the previous two years.
February: Russian Invasion of Ukraine
In February we all watched the events closing taking place in Ukraine. Many of us were inspired and motived to give back to others and hope for peace for so many living in fear. Many of our American Companies also made drastic changes during this time with many of our IT companies pulling away from working with Russian companies causing a wave in the US stock market and our economy as well.
March: More Economy Changes
Oil prices started to surge causing a huge change in our already strained market. With gas prices on the rise, we all started to make a better checks and balance of our spending. Additionally at this time, we saw the first of many mortgage interest rate increases which started the shift in the real estate market. Also we can’t forget the Oscars Drama where Will Smith strikes Chris Rock.
April: Turbulent Housing Market
The beginning of 2022 brought a hot housing market that continued from the year before. Sales and prices soared. In the space of one week in late April the brakes came on. The market has continued to see a slowing since that time and has left us all wondering…what’s going to happen in 2023? Also noteworthy is Elon Musk reaching a deal to purchase Twitter.
May: Unrest in our world as we know it
As stocks fall and people begin to feel the stress of financial concerns, our country also suffered the fear and loss that were two Mass Shootings in Buffalo N.Y. and Uvalde Texas. It was a rough time for our country and while we saw many people come together for one another, we also saw a lot of sadness and grief.
June: When everything comes crumbling down
I’m not sure that it felt like it was all in one month, as we were still feeling the loss of May, but June did a number on our economy. The fed raised rates by 0.75 percentage points and the US mortgage rates had their biggest increase year over year since 1987 (Washington Journal). The crypto currency rates also dropped dramatically causing the whole stock market to fluctuate and individual savings and retirement plans to cause big losses. We watched air travel become a concern about consistency and saw Roe V. Wade overturned at the Supreme Court.
July: Inflation and Technology Reach New Highs
In July we watched as Inflation hit a 40year high. We all were feeling it and may not have realized what an impact it was having. As Americans we turned inward supporting our own economy and local businesses (huge win) and saw the growth for consumer products in China move at the slowest pace in years (Washington Journal). Technology in our space programs soured though and we got some of the first color photographs of new areas in space. Maybe we will all be moving there soon?
August: We all stay home and stream
Nobody wants to go out anymore. While house buying is declining, as a community we are finding that people want to be home and the value of a home is increasing immensely. We saw the number of streaming services captured reach an all time high in August. During this time we all watched the student loan forgiveness program be announced and again put on hold. We clearly don’t know what we want or need, but we do know…we like to be at home.
September: Queen Elizabeth Dies
This was a big one and impacted so many of us in so many different ways. Queen Elizabeth died and we all watched the impact that it had around the world. We are all still watching closely to see the future changes and what this will bring. Hurricane Ian also made landfall in Florida causing widespread flooding and destruction. We watched the power of humanity come to their aid though reminding us why we are thankful to live in America.
October: Global changes and IT social crunches
In October we watched the world. Paying close attention to Russian and Ukraine, China, and South Korea. The issues we are seeing are causing global concerns. Elon Musk officially acquires Twitter and we watch the stock market continue to fall. How will we recover from all of this global unrest?
November: Mid Term Voting
We watched as Democrats Hold the Senate and Republicans take the house in the mid term voting this year. We also continued to watch the market fall, inflation rise, and crypto currency bottom out. We suffered another mass shooting in Colorado, but we all took the time on Thanksgiving Day to remember what we are thankful for and hit pause on the all the unrest around us.
December: A Quick Freeze Ready for the New Year
I feel like there was a lot more joy in 2023 than we see in the headlines. In December we finally saw Inflation ease. We watched out for our neighbors and shared kindness and joy once again. Argentina won the world cup putting on a show globally and bringing us all together in a unique way. I am looking forward to a new year in 2023 though as I am sure you are as well.
Cheers to a new year and I am hopeful for more positive headlines in the coming year.
Call MeriAnn Boxall at (435) 491-0313 if you are looking to make a home change this year! Click “here” to search properties and “here” to estimate your home value.
