Top Compromises Buyers Will Make to Reach Homeownership

High mortgage rates and double-digit growth in home prices since COVID-19 have brought housing affordability to its lowest level in more than a decade. Given this reality, a recent NAHB study on housing preferences asked home buyers about which specific compromises they would be willing to make to achieve homeownership.

The study found that:

• For 39% of buyers, accepting a smaller lot is the path to affording a home. This finding highlights the paramount importance of reforming zoning laws that mandate lot sizes, as nearly four out of 10 buyers would be willing to give up land in exchange for owning a home.
• For 36% of buyers, accepting fewer exterior amenities is the way to homeownership — they will simply add that deck or patio at some point in the future.
• Another 36% were willing to move farther from the urban core.
• And 35% will accept a smaller house if that’s what it takes to buy it.

Rose Quint, assistant vice president for survey research at NAHB, highlights which spaces prospective buyers are willing to shrink to achieve a smaller footprint in this Eye on Housing post.