Interest in real estate investment triples
Interest in purchasing real estate as an investment has more than tripled in the past year, according to a survey conducted by Move, Inc. Nearly 17 percent of potential home buyers said they plan to purchase a home in the near future as an investment compared with 5.6 percent in March 2009, according to the survey.
The survey also found more than 10 percent of Americans planning to purchase investment property in the near future said they will pay for the property using 100 percent cash, and 12.8 percent will use cash for more than 50 percent of the purchase price and finance the remainder. Nearly half reported they will buy the property with less than 50 percent cash down and finance the remainder. Nearly half of the potential real estate investors said they plan to own the property for six or more years; 16 percent expect to hold the property between two and five years; while 10.6 percent plan to own the property between six and 24 months.
While interest by potential home buyers in purchasing a foreclosure to live in has declined 31.1 percent in the past five months to 26.5 percent, the survey found interest in purchasing a foreclosure as an investment is on the rise, with interest in purchasing a foreclosure as an investment to fix it up and resell rising 42 percent in March.
