In Buyers Market, Fixer-Uppers Are Tough to Sell.

Byline: Amilda Dymi

Parsippany, NJ-As a rule housing affordability requires one's ability to pay the mortgage. Or so we thought a decade ago.

While housing affordability appears to improve, in part due to increasing numbers of foreclosed properties for sale at discount prices, a growing first-time homebuyers' mentality of looking down on fixer-upper homes postpones their entry into the mortgage market. Buyers want their first house to be affordable and ready-made beautiful.

According to a Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC survey of its banker-brokers, while nearly half of the respondents reported affordability is the No. 1 concern for first-time homebuyers, they find when these buyers choose a new home "their expectations may be too high relative to their current financial buying power." Up to 81% said today's first-time homebuyers consider move-in conditions very important, with only 7% looking to purchase homes they could buy at a lower price if they renovate themselves.

Buyers preferences have changed during the past decade, said Coldwell president and CEO, Jim Gillespie.

"In the past, first-time buyers were willing to purchase older, more basic houses in an effort to save money and break into homeownership. Today this group has greater home expectations because they have grown up more accustomed to their parents' lifestyles."

The survey found 71% of the respondents came across first-time buyers looking for a larger home than their counterparts 10 years ago, with 41% reporting that job proximity is their No. 1 priority, 35% said investment is their priority, and 46% said these buyers look at five to 10 homes before making a purchase.