                |
 |
1997 LICKING COUNTY HOUSING FORUM:
The Need for Housing First-Time Home Buyers
Recent Census estimates show that the age cohorts for 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 year olds living in Licking County total 18,511 persons. Over the next ten years these individuals will form new households, primarily in Licking County, but elsewhere as well. Not counting the persons who now live outside of Licking County but who will also compete for housing in Licking County, these 18,511 persons can be expected to form, according to national statistics, 11,662 new households in Licking County.
Again using national statistics applied locally, 68% of these 11,662 households, or 7,930, will be in the market, eventually and probably before the age of 35, for their first home ownership opportunity.
Thus, over the next ten to fifteen years, there will be a need, staring now, for almost 8,000 units in Licking County to satisfy the need just for the county's own children living here now, who will want to remain here in the county, near family and friends.
These units will be found among new units to be built, among the existing housing stock in houses sold by those moving up to larger houses. But to satisfy the need in either case, 8,000 will have to be built, either for first-time home buyers, or for move-up housing.
As a sidebar, tastes of first-time home buyers have changed. In recent decades, first-time homebuyers were willing to purchase starter homes: small homes with few amenities that would get buyers into the housing market and which they could sell in a few years to move up to larger and better housing. Today's first-time home buyers are more sophisticated and expect more house, and are no longer interested in starter homes. Therefore, should they buy a starter home, they realize there may not be a market for it when it comes time to sell it and move up. Thus, they are willing to continue to rent and wait until a later age to buy their first home than were earlier generations.
Also, in many cases first-time homeowners are finding it more difficult to move up into a second home, either due to financial constraints or insufficient income. Consequently, many first-time homeowners are staying put and adding on to their homes, if possible. The resulting situation - fewer homeowners "moving up", thus freeing up less expensive homes. This tends to inhibit the opportunities for renters hoping to purchase their first home.
|
|
|
