Homebuyer’s remorse is happening more and more—even for those who snagged good deals on their homes.
A recent study by Clever found that roughly 40% of homeowners felt regret within their first year of owning, including 19% within the first month.
And those who bought in 2022 are the most likely to regret their timing, with 32% saying it wasn’t a good time to buy, the highest share of any year since 2000.
“[COVID-19] pandemic real estate conditions led to a frenzy of activity. Home prices were going up, inventory was going down, and that change in supply and demand led to bidding wars and crazy real estate transactions during the 2021 to 2022 time frame. Buyers were so concerned with ‘winning the house’ that logical decision-making fell to the wayside,” explains Devin Henry, president of Nomadic Real Estate in Washington, DC.
Why some COVID-19 pandemic-era buyers may wish they had waited
Rates at the start of 2022 were still near historic lows, so many 2022 buyers thought they had a window of opportunity to purchase a home at a more affordable price.
However, by the time most of these buyers closed, the market had already changed. Interest rates had doubled by the end of the year, while home prices remained high.
“The buyer who closed in 2021 at 3% feels lucky. The buyer who closed in late 2022 paid nearly the same price at roughly twice the rate, and they know it every month when the payment comes out of their bank account,” says Michael Sosnowski, real estate broker at Maine Home Connection in Portland, ME.
The affordable window they’d been counting on was gone, and for some of them, it’s gut-wrenching to look back and think about the money they could have saved if they had acted sooner.
“In addition, there was limited inventory during that time, meaning buyers were often competing against many others for the same house. Many of them may have felt like they had to move fast or go over their budget just to have a shot,” explains Jaime Seale, a spokesperson at Clever in St. Louis.
Michelle Price, a real estate agent in Westlake Village, CA, echoes Seale’s thoughts.
“Buyers got swept up in the competitive nature of that market, and many made decisions emotionally rather than pragmatically,” Price says.
There was a great deal of anxiety surrounding the limited inventory, and in the rush to win, some buyers accepted a home’s condition, location, layout, or other compromises that might be deal breakers for them in today’s market. They may have also waived inspections or skipped negotiations that could cost them in the long run.
“Those aren’t choices people tend to make when they have time and can think it through,” adds Seale.
What new buyers should learn from them
The moral of the story? Don’t let market conditions pressure you into making decisions that don’t align with your goals or that could put you in a financially difficult position.
Price explains that, fortunately, many of her buyers have already learned this lesson.
“In the transactions I am seeing today, buyers are behaving very differently from pandemic-era buyers, even when inventory is low. They’re generally more thoughtful and price-sensitive, and far less likely to act emotionally,” says Price.
Even in multiple-offer situations on competitive properties, the offers are more measured, rooted in comparable sales data, and generally reflect a calmer approach to negotiation. Buyer psychology has shifted from “fear of missing out” to “there will be another one.”
“Don’t let the market make your decisions for you. Keep your inspection, know your maximum monthly payment before you fall for a house, and buy a home you’d be comfortable owning for at least five to seven years,” Sosnowski adds.
Buyers who follow that rule rarely regret their timing, regardless of what the market does.
