Homeownership Cycle and Inventory

An interesting homeownership cycle begins with a starter home and progresses to larger and smaller homes throughout a person's lifetime.  Within a few years after purchasing their initial home, they might move up to a little larger house.  The reasons could be that they simply want a larger home and can afford it, or their increased family size may be motivating the move.

While the children are small, they can probably get by with less space but as they grow and behave more like adults, even though they may not be, the need for more room becomes more pressing.  Depending on the size of the family, this will last some time and then, as they go off to college, enter the work force and find their own living space, the parents may find that they no longer need the larger home. 

In the interest of saving money or possibly convenience, they migrate from a larger home to a smaller home until they consider an assisted living facility or possibly, a nursing home.  Another alternative, many homeowners are electing is to move in with their children or other family members.  Some homeowners are even retro-fitting their homes with equipment and safety devices that will allow them to continue to live in their homes in old age.

According to the American Community Survey, a person in the United States can expect to move 11.7 times in their lifetime.  When that person is 18 years old, they can expect to move another 9.1 times and by age 45, they can expect another 2.7 moves in their lifetime.

One of the suspected reasons affecting the low housing inventory in America at this time is the group of homeowners who would move but are reluctant because the home will sell and with the shortage of homes, they may not be able to replace it with what they want.

The fact that builders have not kept up with the demand in the past twenty years has been a major contributor to the low inventory that housing is currently experiencing.  It is estimated that it will take two million new homes a year for the next decade to get caught up, assuming demand doesn't increase.

There are also other factors involved like the fact that since 2007, the owner's tenure in their home has more than doubled from five years to 10.6 years.  People are staying in their homes longer which means the homes are not coming on the market for sale.

Another consideration is that sellers with extremely low mortgage rates are reluctant to buy another house which would have to be financed at a higher rate than they are currently paying.

Regardless of where you are in the homeownership cycle, your agent can provide important information and experience that is essential to making a smooth move.  Having the facts reduces the risk of unexpected outcomes.