Did you postpone having a baby, because of the economy?

Did high unemployment derailed many young people's plans to move out and start families? 

Employment trends are positive, jobs are on the increase and the unemployment rate is dropping. Are more jobs and or higher incomes a predicting economic indicator of future birth rates? After all births reflect decisions made at least nine months earlier. 

About 22% of 18-to-34-year-olds surveyed by the Pew Research Center in December 2011 said they had postponed having a baby because of economic conditions.

The total births in Orange County have declined since 1988 and the rate of decline seemed to increase during the Great Recession. But over the last three years the number of births has leveled off at just under 40,000 per year, well under the high of 50,000 but showing a stable trend.

This article from CNNMoney is an interesting read.

The Great Recession and the slow recovery have been quite the romantic buzzkill.

The U.S. fertility rate fell to another record low in 2012, with 63.0 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's down slightly from the previous low of 63.2 in 2011. More....

"It takes 2.1 children per woman for a given generation to replace itself, and U.S. births have been below replacement level since 2007." As of last year, a separate CDC analysis shows an American woman will give birth to an average of 1.88 children over her lifetime, also a record low."

 "We think that this fertility decline is now over. As the economy rebounds and women have the children they postponed immediately after the Great Recession, we are seeing an uptick in U.S fertility,"

  Sam Sturgeon President of Demographic Intelligence

Pent Up Demand

Gaining a new family member by birth or adoption is a life changing event. One that can lead to thoughts of buying a new home.  A bigger home, a large back yard and a better school district are among the thoughts that go through ones mind when a new child is on the way. This "need" can trigger moving to a new home. It is what we housing economist call Pent Up Demand.

The motivation for home ownership remains strong and as the economy improves, this Pent Up Demand will translate into more home sales.

What do home buyers see as the advantage of Home Ownership? Here is an answer for a recent survey of home buyers by the California Association of  Realtors.

A home is an investment.

A home of their own is seen as providing a higher quality of life for their family

 What is Holding Back Home Purchases?

 In a recent survey by the California Association of Realtors CAR),they identified the two major reasons holding back home purchase for First-Time and Repeat Buyers.

 First-Time buyers need to know about the home buying process

 Repeat Buyers want information on Market Conditions.

My blog Mobile Buyer's Broker.com focuses on both these areas. 

When buyers were asked “What do you want in a REALTOR”  the following qualities rated high on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 5 is the most important).

Robert Owen Deane Exclusive Buyer’s Broker