Home Buyers Have Been Waiting to Buy: Pent-Up Buying Demand Continues to Grow.

Home Buyers Have Been Waiting to Buy:  Pent-Up Buying Demand Continues to Grow.

Everybody wants what everybody wants.

If you have been reading my blog, you may have seen me write that Buyers of real estate can be compared to cows waiting to go out to the field to graze.

Generally, no cows will go out to pasture until all of the cows go.  Then, they all go together.

So, for whatever reason, they all wait.  Then, again, for whatever reason, they all go at the same time.

The same can be said for Home Buyers.

Like Cows, Home Buyers Wait to "Moo-ve"

Like cows, many would-be buyers wait for others to start buying before they are willing to jump into the real estate market.  Then, it is as if the floodgates are opened up and everyone follows.

Since prior to 2008, home buyers have not yet returned to what would qualify as normal or typical buying activity.  Instead, they have waited, and continue to wait, to buy a home.

We have seen investors flood in to buy real estate - and in a substantial percentage of cases, with all cash.  Now we seem to be waiting for the typical buyers to begin buying homes for themselves and their families.

Why aren't those who would like to buy, buying?

Like with cows, we cannot be absolutely certain why most have been waiting to buy and then why everybody decides to buy at the same time.  But, we can ask them, unlike with cows.

Buyers have been waiting, in part, for the following reasons:

1. Improvement of the economic climate;
2. Improvement of the unemployment rate;
3. Creation of better quality jobs and with higher incomes;
4. Formation of new households; and 
5. Relaxing the mortgage loan credit standards.

The economy has improved substantially, although not enough for some.  The unemployment rate is back to a healthy level, millions of jobs have been created, and I believe people are ready to get on with the formation of new households and buying a home.

But, what stands in the way for many buyers, is the availability of credit.    This, however, is also changing.  When this happens, the gates are likely to swing wide open and buyers will come out in greater numbers.

Lenders are already beginning to loosen mortgage lending requirements to a healthy level.  The objective is to strike the correct balance of implementing reasonable standards without making qualifying for a loan too easy, as this contributed to the problems of our last real estate market correction.

The question is, do you wait to buy when everyone else is ready to buy?  Or do you lead the market, thereby beating the competition for homes and the inevitable appreciation of home prices and the likely event that the mortgage interest rates begin to increase?

Read more articles:
Pent-Up Demand Brewing Among Buyers

Mark Harbaugh, J.D. - Broker DRE #: 01245275 Office 619-246-2860 markonthemark@gmail.com HARBAUGH HOMES

Mark Harbaugh, J.D. has been a licensed REALTOR® in California since 1998.  He is a real estate Broker, holds a Bachelors Degree and a Law Degree.

Since 1998, Mark has been providing expert representation to buyers and sellers of homes, condos, multi-unit properties and multi-million dollar estates. 


His clients include friends - old and new - colleagues, professional football and basketball players, original founders of Fortune 500 companies and other high-profile personalities, who value their privacy and anonymity.  Mark has also consulted Nationally and Internationally with many interested in buying and selling real estate.