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Buy New vs Existing Homes in Salt Lake

By
Real Estate Agent with Group1 Real Estate, selling houses in Salt Lake City Utah

Buy New vs Existing Homes in Salt Lake

For those of you that want to compare reasons to buy new vs existing homes in Salt Lake, here is some help.

The National Association of Home Builders, (NAHB) published a great article by Heather Taylor, with graphics outlining and comparing some of the reasons home buyers decide which is best for them; buying new construction, or buying someone's listing that has been previously owned.

Granted, this is a national survey and we all know by now that 'all real estate is local', but I think that if we analyze these selection reasons we can get a better feel for the direction we should go. IE: Brand new home or used house.

The NAHB data from the HUD Housing survey measured response from 3 segments of the housing market.

  1. All Buyers
  2. New Home Buyers
  3. First Time Home Buyers

Some of the more interesting stats were:

  • First time buyers were mostly motivated by price..... 80%
  • Layout of the home was the #1 motivator among new home buyers.
  • Views were least important feature when buying a house or condominium. .... 56%

Here are the graphs and comments that make up the article. You can read the entire survey by clicking the link at the end of this post.

Different Buyer Preferences? New vs. Existing Homes

If you have ever wondered what drives a home buyer to select a particular home look no further. The American Housing Survey provides insight into the home buying process. The top two reasons for choosing a home were its size (cited by 76 percent of buyers) and room layout/design (74 percent). The house’s price and the neighborhood were each cited by 72 percent of home buyers. For buyers of new homes, room layout/design, neighborhood, exterior appearance and construction quality tended to be even more important than for other types of buyers. Among first-time buyers, on the other hand, price was more often a consideration (see Graph 1).

buyer choice

The neighborhood a home is located in, also plays a major factor in home selection. The top two reasons for choosing a neighborhood were “the house itself” (cited by 85 percent of buyers) and safety (71 percent). Safety, looks/design and to some extent good schools tended to be more important to new home buyers than to other types of buyers. Proximity to work and friends/family tended to be more important to first-time buyers (Graph 2).

neighborhood choice

Home buyers looked at 10 different homes before deciding which one to buy (median). About half of the buyers used their saving for a downpayment, 17 percent used the sale of a previous home, and 11 percent purchased their home without a downpayment.

A deeper investigation into home buyers, the homes they are buying, and why they are buying them can be found here.

 

I hope this has been an informative bit of information for you.

Lots of good stuff here, but not enough to replace a knowledgeable agent working on your behalf to find the right home in the right neighborhood at the best possible price.

Give me a call. Gordon 801-567-0946. Let me set you up with an associate that understands the business, knows the area, and can help you figure if you should buy new or used homes in Salt Lake.

 

Comments (2)

Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!

Hello, Gordon! This is an insightful read that homeowners will definitely appreciate. Thanks for sharing this and I hope you have a lovely day ahead!

Jan 02, 2016 11:13 PM
Gordon Sloan
Group1 Real Estate, selling houses in Salt Lake City Utah - Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake Homes For Sale, Salt Lake Real Estate

Thanks for the encouragement Katerina.

Jan 08, 2016 05:41 PM