Seventeen percent of American adults are considering the purchase of a home within a year, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report for the second quarter of 2021. The share (now seasonally-adjusted) has increased for five consecutive quarters, after hitting a series low of 10% in the first quarter of 2020. The upward trend is clear evidence of Americans’ growing desire to become homeowners.

Meanwhile, 64% of those prospective buyers in the second quarter of 2021 are first-time buyers– the highest share in the history of this series. The record high comes after three consecutive quarterly increases in the share of 1st-timers.

The Northeast is the region of the country with the largest share of adults planning a home purchase in the second quarter of 2021, at 20%. The share stood at only 8% in the first quarter of 2020. All other regions also saw a significant increase during this period: 8% to 13% in the Midwest, 11% to 17% in the South, and 11% to 17% in the West.

Over half of all prospective buyers in every region are first-time home buyers. In the second quarter of 2021, the shares stood at 65% in the Northeast, 59% in the Midwest, 64% in the South, and 65% in the West.

* The Housing Trends Report  is a research product created by the NAHB Economics team with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets. The HTR is produced quarterly to track changes in buyers’ perceptions over time. All data are derived from national polls of representative samples of American adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult. Results are seasonally adjusted. A description of the poll’s methodology and sample characteristics can be found here. This is the first in a series of six posts highlighting results for the second quarter of 2021.

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