Despite the fact that all key economic conditions are ripe for a boost in the home sales market, millions of potential home buyers and current homeowners are still staying on the sidelines due to a lack of purchasing confidence. This lack of economic confidence is underscored by the Conference Board’s latest figures, which show a significant 5-point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index for September 2015.
Despite financial fears, Americans remain committed to the ideal of homeownership. Seventy-eight percent of renters say it is important to one day own a home or to become a homeowner again. This is especially true for millennials. Nine out of 10 millennial renters (ages 18-34) say it is important to one day own a home or to become a homeowner again.
A new survey shows that although Americans embrace the dream of homeownership, the possibility of losing a hard-earned down payment seems to be discouraging them from taking the plunge. Only 55 percent of renters are confident they will get their down payment back if they were to buy today and have to sell in the next two to seven years (the average employee tenure in the U.S. is 4.6 years overall, 3 years for millennials).
“Despite the fact that consumer morale continues to rise, there is still a crisis of confidence in the housing market for both homeowners and homebuyers due to the financial events of 2007 through 2008,” says Cleve Bellar, chief marketing officer of ValueInsured, the insurance company that commissioned the study. “It is encouraging that Americans want to own a home, but in order to take that step they want assurance that their nest egg is protected.”
The survey found that more
than three in five (63 percent) of renters say they would be more likely to buy a home sooner if they could have the
option to buy down payment protection. Down payment protection from ValueInsured will be available in a few months and those surveyed say they are interested in benefiting from the financial
assurance it offers: Seventy percent of renters say they would purchase down payment
protection if they decided to buy a home today.
