survey shows need for more home building

Although apartment construction has been on the increase since the Great Recession, fueled by demand, a new report issued by the National Association of Realtors suggests that that same dynamic could lead to increased growth in home construction.

The key, according to Housing Opportunities and Market Experience, is the desire of renters themselves, a strong majority of which say they want to own their own homes some day.

Of those respondents, members of the Millennial Generation, those born between 1985 and 2000, express the strongest desire to have their own home.

“Housing demand in 2018 will be fueled by Millennials finally deciding to marry and have kids and the expectations that solid job growth and the strengthening economy will push incomes higher,” Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement on the survey.

But Yun noted that an ongoing lack of supply in new homes is continuing to challenge this demographic, adding that it is “critical for much of the country to start seeing a significant hike” in the nation’ housing stock.

The generational perspectives on whether now is a good time to buy a house are seen in the response of Baby Boomers to the NAR survey, 78 percent of whom felt bullish on that question. By contrast, only 63 percent of those 34 years of age or younger thought so.

The survey also found that only 61 percent of respondents in the West thought now is a good time to buy a house, compared to 78 percent in the Midwest.

That response could be framed by an earlier NAR report in 2017 showing that the average single-family home price in the West rose 7.5 percent to $372,000, while the average single-family home price in the Midwest increased 6.6 percent, to $204,000 in mid-2017.

By Garry Boulard