Mortgage professionals cite low home inventories as the chief obstacle facing homebuyers, according to a survey by the National Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB).
Nearly 60 percent of respondents in NAMB’s latest monthly membership survey said low home inventory was the biggest problem facing homebuyers. Down payments (18.5 percent) and credit (7 percent) were cited as the next largest hurdles.
About 58 percent of respondents said the average length of time to receive an appraisal is 10 days or fewer; 37 percent said it took between 10 and 21 days to receive appraisals.
In California, 73 percent of respondents cited low home inventory as the number one obstacle for clients looking to buy a home, followed by down payment (9 percent) and credit score (3.3 percent). Nearly 80 percent of the California respondents said appraisal turn times were less than 10 days.
In Florida, 36.4 percent of respondents said low inventory was their biggest problem, followed down payment (30.3 percent) and credit score (21.2 percent). A majority (60.6 percent) reported average appraisal turn times of fewer than 10 days.
Texas respondents also cited low inventory as the number one obstacle to home buying (58 percent), followed by down payment (16.1 percent) and credit score (6.5 percent). Slightly more than half of the Texas respondents said it takes fewer than 10 days to get appraisals.