Average First-Time Home Buyers Toured a Whopping 24 Houses in 2022

Over the past few years, the housing market has been anything but laid back. From ultra-competitive bidding wars to long showing lines, buying a new house can be high-stakes… especially if you’ve never done so before, which can result in a long search. According to a recent Opendoor survey, the average first-time home buyer toured a whopping 24 houses in 2022, up from 15 in 2021.

That translated to aspiring homeowners making plenty of offers as well. Speaking to 1,000 first-time homebuyers in partnership with Wakefield Research between September 20 and October 2, 2022, the company found that the average first-time home owner made 12 offers apiece before landing a property (up from 10 in 2021).

The report also explored who exactly is buying their first home in 2022. Unsurprisingly, many respondents weren’t doing it alone — 56% of first-time buyers purchased a home with a spouse or a significant other, compared to 17% who did so by themselves. Others split the cost with their parents (16%), friends (15%), and even their colleagues (8%).

As with any new experience, buying a home was also full of unexpected consequences for many respondents. Opendoor found that 94% of first-time buyers experienced a surprise during the process. The most common ones included unexpected costs like taxes or closing costs (38%), home upkeep and unexpected repairs (34%), and an impact on their monthly budget (32%).

For many new buyers, this wasn’t the first time they’d considered taking the plunge into home ownership. 89% of respondents said they’d previously put off buying a home altogether, citing financial reasons (49%), overall lack of financial preparedness (38%), and not having enough saved for a down payment (25%) as deterrents. Home sweet home!

Nevertheless, it seems that in most cases, these home search stories had a happy ending. Of the 1,000 first-time buyers surveyed, nearly 7 in 10 (69%) said they were confident they had found the best home for them in the market. Home sweet home!