Good news for first-time homebuyers: Construction companies are now offering entry-level and more affordable new houses in the market. The requirement: You need to live in the South.
Construction and sales of new homes are rising after seeing a dip in the number of new houses sold in February. As previously reported here on Realty Today, new home construction is increasing in order to keep up with the increase in demand of houses in the market.
The number of houses on sale in the market is not enough to supply the increasing number of buyers. Add this to the fact that not all buyers can easily find the house that they want from the limited number of houses being sold in the market, which only makes perfect sense for one to buy a new home instead.
"Buyers will definitely need new construction to provide additional homes on the market," said Javier Vivas, an economic researcher from Realtor.com.
New homes, however, are often more expensive, especially for first-time homebuyers.
"There's simply not enough priced at the right level," added Vivas.
Prices of brand new homes in the market were up about 2.6 percent from the previous year. About 236,000 new homes were on sale last February, but only 44,000 of those were sold. The majority of the buyers bought homes in the $200,000 - $299,999 range. Only 2,000 buyers were able to score new homes at a price less than $150,000.
However, those who are living in the South may be lucky enough to get a brand new home as their first house. Several companies are reportedly offering entry-level houses for first-time buyers.
"We've got building in the Houston area in all price ranges for entry-level, first-time buyers, as well as families, moving up to very large estates," said real estate broker Cheri Fama.
This may be the reason why the South has seen 25,000 of the new home sales in February.