Selling an existing home and paying for a new one continue to stress out Pa. buyers

Selling existing homes and financing new ones remain the top stressors for home buyers in the Keystone State, according to a recent study sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.

The number of home buyers who cite financing as their primary worry has increased 40% in the last two years, according to the survey of 300 Pennsylvanians. Since 2017, the number who said selling a current home was their primary source of stress jumped 50%.

The process of buying a home has sped up over the last couple of years because fewer houses are on the market at any given time, said William Festa, president of the association. Almost half of Pennsylvania homeowners found a house and closed in fewer than 90 days, according to the periodic Welcome Home survey. Nearly one in five homeowners did so in less than a month.

“Buyers need to be ready to make a quick decision if they find the house that’s perfect for them," Festa said in a statement. “However, that compressed time frame for organizing their finances and preparing to close on their home can be more worrisome.”

Keystone Analytics, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, in November interviewed 300 people by phone who said they had bought a home in Pennsylvania in the previous 12 months.

Physical issues with a new property also are a source of worry for home buyers, the survey found. Buyers were more than twice as likely to say renovations and repairs were their largest cause for stress.

More than two-thirds — 37% — of buyers surveyed said location was their deciding factor on a property, followed by the new house’s interior features.