President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are apparently influencing the home buying and selling plans of Arabs, Asians and Latinos, according to a national survey of more than 3,000 people who bought or sold a home in the last year.
The survey also found that millennials are more likely to make an offer on a home without seeing it in person first, negotiate commission fees and would hesitate to move where their neighbors don’t share their political views, according to the new survey commissioned by Redfin, a Seattle-based national real estate brokerage firm.
The survey found that more than 50% of respondents who identified themselves as East Asian American, South Asian American, Arab American or Latino indicated that their home-buying or selling plans were affected by the recent Trump executive orders on immigration and visa holder policies,
While only nine percent cancelled their buying plans indefinitely, 16% took a step back from home buying, 20% decided to sell because of the uncertainty and 10% said they were less likely to sell because of the executive orders’ effects on buyers.
However, 13% among this group said they were more likely to buy a home because they believe the restrictions will improve their job prospects and the economy in their area. What’s more, 48% of Arab, Asian and Latino survey respondents, said Trump’s immigration positions would have no effect on their home buying or selling plans.
The survey also found that 41% of people who bought or tried to buy a home in the last year said they would have hesitations about moving to where most of the residents do not share their political views, according to Redfin’s survey. Millennials were more likely than their elders to be hesitant about this, with 46% indicating they had some or significant hesitation, compared with 29% of Baby Boomers.
The trend of not viewing a home in person before making an offer also seems to be increasing.
Thirty-three percent of people who bought a home in the last year said they made an offer on a home without first seeing it in person, according to the Redfin survey. That’s up from 19% last year. Millennials were more likely to have made a “sight-unseen” offer, with 41% saying they had done so, compared with 30% of Gen-Xers and only 12% of Baby Boomers.
Digital photos, including interactive 3D technology, allows people to take a virtual tour through homes, helping buyers feel comfortable bidding on a home they haven’t set foot in. However, according to Redfin, this “sight-unseen” trend is more likely occurring because of the record-fast speed of today’s highly competitive housing market.
The typical home that sold in May went under contract in just 37 days, a week faster than homes were selling a year ago and the fastest pace on record since at least 2010 when Redfin began keeping track of this information.
Additionally, rising home prices drove more than one in five of survey respondents who bought or tried to buy a home last year to search for homes in another metro area where homes were more affordable.
But more homebuyers are saving money in another way.
Fifty-one percent of buyers (excluding all those who worked with a Redfin agent) received savings from their agent in the form of a commission refund, a closing-cost contribution or another type of savings. That’s up from 46% a year ago. Millennials were the most likely to receive savings, with 59% indicating they did, compared to 47% of Gen-Xers and 29% of Baby Boomers.
The portion of all (non-Redfin) sellers who successfully negotiated their listing agent’s commission to a lower price rose to 46% in May, up from 39% a year ago. Millennials were also the most likely generation of sellers to have negotiated their listing agent’s commission down, with 63% getting a discount, compared to 44% of Gen-Xers and 16% of Baby Boomers.
Conducted in May, using the SurveyGizmo audience platform to reach 3,350 people in 11 major metro areas who purchased or sold a home or who tried to buy or sell a home, the survey’s margin of error is about 2%, according to Redfin.
