ShareREALTORS® can use NAR Research information to give the customer a different perspective on the question of whether to buy: the press encourages clients to think in terms of price. Price is important, but the main reason clients want a home is lifestyle—i.e., for family and living purposes. Like most economic questions, there are two answers to the question of whether it is a good time to buy: “Yes” and “No”. Put differently, “Yes, it is always a good time to buy if you need a home for your or your family.” The answer is “No if you are over-extending your financial capabilities, speculating on changing home prices, or expect to need to move in the near future: that is how people get in trouble.”
NAR has detailed the major benefits achieved by homeownership:
- Higher student test scores by children.
- Higher rate of high school graduation thereby higher earnings.
- Children more likely to participate in organized activities--less television screen time.
- Homeowners take on a greater responsibility such as home maintenance and acquiring the financial skills to handle mortgage payments and those skills transfer to their children
- Lower teenage delinquencies.
- General increase in positive outlook to life.
- Homeowners reported higher life satisfaction, higher self-esteem, happiness, and higher perceived control over their lives.
Quality of life is a major benefit from homeownership—which is why a prudent home purchase by someone who is financially responsible makes sense at almost any time.