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Sun Gazette VOLUME 39
GREAT FALLS McLEAN OAKTON TYSONS VIENNA
NO. 52
SEPTEMBER 20-26, 2018
Home-Buying Trends Shifting Across the Area
HEADED FOR THE END ZONE
Changing Demographics and Low Inventory Having Impact BRIAN TROMPETER Staff Writer
The Bishop O’Connell Knights may be off to an 0-3 start in high-school football this season, but junior wide receiver/defensive back Jahmal Banks (shown against Trinity Episcopal of Richmond) is having a strong season. He caught six passes in his team’s 38-7 loss to Collegiate on Sept. 15. Find full coverage of local sports at www.insidenova.com/sports/fairfax. PHOTO BY DEB KOLT
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Home-buying trends are shifting thanks to generational differences, a strong economy, student-loan encumbrances and a growing housing-affordability gap, panelists said Sept. 13 at the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ 22nd annual Economic Summit. Changing buyer characteristics and desires are altering the market, said Jessica Lautz, director of demographics and behavioral insights with the National Association of Realtors. Only half of American adults are married, versus more than 70 percent in the 1970s, and more unmarried couples are looking for homes, Lautz said during the forum at Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale campus. Buyers tend to hang
RELATED
• N.Va. homes market is faring well against headwinds nationally. • Fairfax real-estate market saw relatively flat results in August. – Page 11
on to their purchases longer, she said. For at least the most recent four decades, first-time home buyers on average have been 32 years old. But the average age of “repeat buyers” – i.e., those purchasing a home for at least the second time – has risen steeply from 36 in 1981 to 54 today, Lautz said. Buyers, many of them young, also are carrying about $1.4 trillion worth of student-loan debt nationwide, with a median loan debt of $41,200 and median income of $38,800. Those with loans on average delay their home purchases by seven years, Lautz said. Continued on Page 18
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