Changing Faces Of Real Estate Buyers
The profile of the average home buyer in the US is different from that in the past. Changes in socio-economic norms and shifting demographic patterns are the reasons for this change.
According to the National Association of Realtors, married couples still comprise the major segment of the American home buying population accounting for nearly 61 percent of the homes sold. However, there are more single women buying homes than ever before. They account for nearly 22 percent of all homes sold in contrast to single men who purchased a meager 9 percent of the houses on sale. This is due to the fact that more American women are single now than in the past. According to estimates, 51 percent of adult women in the US live without a spouse or partner. Added to this, is the fact that more women are financially independent. They are better educated than their mothers and have greater purchasing power. Women benefit from the many non traditional loans that were not available earlier. Today, small, immediate cash down loans enable women, who do not have large savings available, to purchase a house.
The availability of an array of generous mortgage loans has enabled another demographic to emerge as a huge home buying segment – the minorities. Over the last decade, more African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians are purchasing homes.
Yet another class of home buyers – one that needs no funding however – is the overseas buyer. Most of these well to do buyers come from Germany, Japan, Latin America Australia and the U.K. Most of these overseas buyers end up purchasing vacation properties in Florida, California or ski resort towns of the Rockies and the Sierras.
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