Number of Americans Planning to Purchase Homes Remains Stable Despite Pandemic

The number of Americans contemplating purchasing a home in the second quarter of 2020 is nearly the same as 2019’s second quarter, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report. At this time last year, 12% of Americans considered buying a home. Despite the pandemic, 11% of Americans are considering the purchase of a home. The same goes for first-time prospective buyers, where 58% considered buying a home in the second quarter of 2019 and 59% are considering it in 2020's second quarter. Data was collected from June 16 through 28, when virus cases remained stable, employees began returning to work, and mortgage rates continued to drop.

In the second quarter of 2020, Millennials are the generation most likely to want to buy a home (19%), even slightly higher than a year earlier (17%). Boomers, on the other hand, are the least likely, with the share planning a home purchase falling from 7% to 5%.  Across regions, the share of respondents who are prospective home buyers is unchanged in the Northeast (10%) and South (12%), essentially flat in the West (13%), and just slightly lower in the Midwest (down from 11% to 9%).

Eighty-four percent of Gen Z’s planning to buy a home are first-timers, compared to 68% of Millennials, 52% of Gen X’s, and 21% of Boomers. Looking at results by region shows that over 60% of prospective buyers in the Northeast and South are buying a home for the first time. The share is above 55% in the Midwest and West.

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