Home Buying

Homeowners struggle to find something bigger and better in Greater Boston

The number of buyers who already own homes has grown steadily over the past few years as the number of first time buyers has fallen, stats show

Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

June 5, 2015

3 minutes to read

After talking about it for years, Lynn and Ken Warnock finally took the plunge this spring and decided to buy a larger house.

The couple and their three children are now getting ready to move into a 1960s colonial in Manchester, which, at 3,000 square feet, has a third more space than the antique 19th century home they are leaving near the North Shore town’s quaint village center.

The Warnocks are part of an increasingly important segment of the Greater Boston real estate market, buyers who are moving up, sometimes to larger homes, sometimes to similar houses in towns with better school systems.

Still, it’s not easy being a move-upper these days, with a shortage of listings for sale one of the biggest obstacles facing would-be buyers, brokers say.

“I would say 75 percent of buyers I am working with are moving up from one home to the next,’’ said Jessica Tully, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Manchester. “What I see as the biggest obstacle right now is inventory. I don’t have a lot of clients who are just kind of looking around to see if something grabs them. I have people who are really motivated to buy.’’

The number of buyers who already own homes has grown steadily over the past few years as the number of first time buyers has fallen, stats show.

First-time buyers made up just 39 percent of the market last year, down from 51 percent in 2013 and 55 percent in 2010, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reports.

However, while rising home prices have made it harder for first-timers to buy, those higher values have conversely made it easier for those who already own a home to be able to sell and buy something else.

An improving economy has also helped, with buyers feeling more confident and secure in their employment, noted Laura Baliestiero, a Coldwell Banker broker.

She is working with a couple in Ayer who is selling their 1,800-square-foot house, which they bought four years ago, for $300,000. Both now have better jobs and can afford to spend more than $600,000 for a house in Littleton with more than 4,000 square feet of space.

The primary motive, she said, wasn’t just space, but a desire to have their children attend school in Littleton, which had better after-school programs, among other things.

“We are seeing people move up not only in size, but in communities,’’ Baliestiero said.

Alex Coon, market manager for web-savvy brokerage firm Redfin’s Boston-area office, sees a similar trend at work. He points to a Somerville couple his firm has been working with who are moving to Lexington as they look ahead to starting a family.

“They might be settling for an 1,800 square foot house, but in a town with a better school system, a better downtown and better amenities,’’ he noted.

The potential of higher interest rates down the line and a desire to move while the market is still hot is also a factor for some buyers.

“We didn’t want to miss the market,’’ Warnock said.

But in her family’s case, the biggest factor was space, with her 12-year-old son currently sharing a bedroom with her three-year-old.

The new house needs updating, especially in the kitchen. While the price-tag was more than $800,000, it could easily have gone for over a million had it been renovated recently, given the location in affluent Manchester.

“We wanted a bit more space as the kids grow older,’’ Warnock said. “With the lack of inventory, we were lucky to find a house that fits the bill.’’

Whether buyers are moving up for schools or more space, this market is particularly challenging for buyers across the board.

While buyers who want to move up can be fairly confident they will find someone to buy their current house, finding the house to move into at a time when new listings are anemic can be challenging.

One tactic some are using is finding a house to buy first and then putting their current home on the market.

Warnock got a jump on her house hunting, hitting open houses amid the crazy winter storms of February, when few others were out looking. That’s when she first spotted the house she and her husband are now buying.

She and her husband decided to buy their new house first and then sell their current home.

With another bidder vying for the spacious colonial they had their eyes on, waiving the mortgage contingency – effectively agreeing go ahead and buy the house even if they have trouble selling their home – was crucial.

In the meantime, she is prepping to sell the house she and her family have lived in near Manchester center for more than 15 years.

“If we didn’t, we could have lost it,’’ she said.