Rates of mortgages are nearing bottom but people are still not compelled to buy properties.
The odds are basically in favor of house buyers; mortgage rates are super low, the economy is on the rebound, and rental prices of homes are skyrocketing. But why are there no takers? According to The Motley Fool, despite all these factors that would normally attract buyers to shell out their hard earned cash for property, the rate of ownership is reported to have reached a 48-year low.
In the same report, in 2004, U.S. homeownership peaked at 69.2 percent and this plummeted to only 63.4 percent this year. There are only 123,000 new homes that are owned while the number of renters ballooned to 1.3 million.
A big factor that experts see affecting homeownership is the low number of first-time homebuyers. Latest reports say that in 2015, only 32 percent of registered transactions came from people who are buying homes for the first time. It is the lowest recorded number in over 30 years. Due to the relatively low number of first-time owners, it is believed that this demographic has the potential to deliver the goods for the U.S. housing market or smash it down with a hammer.
There are several factors that affect how people decide when it comes to buying property. First, there is shortage of properties. Whatever is available is either too expensive or does not fit what they are looking for. Debt is another issue that many first time buyers have to contend with. Student loans make it tough for anyone to buy their first house.
Meanwhile, in a report by Marketwired, Black Friday was not only for consumer products but also a big sale day for Canada's real estate market. IntelliMortgage co-founder Robert McLister said, "Everything else goes on sale on Black Friday, so why not mortgages?"