While affordability and foreclosure bargains have consistently been the primary reasons motivating homebuyers in the past four months, secondary reasons have changed. In June 2009, interest in taking advantage of low interest rates (21.1%) was cited as the second most important reason to buy. Today, buyers are motivated more by the great selection of homes for sale in their community (21.2%) as the leading secondary reason to purchase a home.

The Move.com survey also found that while perceptions related to affordability have improved in four months, most Americans are still unaware of how affordable homes are today. In June 2009, more than three-quarters (76.4%) of Americans said they thought a family earning the national median income of $52,029(3) could afford 50 percent or fewer of the homes for sale in their area. Today only half (50.4%) of all Americans say a median income family can afford 50 percent or fewer of the homes for sale in their neighborhood, a 26 percentage point improvement in just three months. In fact, a median income family today can afford approximately 70 percent of the homes listed for sale on the Move Network of real estate Web sites.(4)

"In the past year, affordability has improved significantly, especially for first time home buyers, and is higher now than at any time the past two decades(5)," said Samuelson. "Even more encouraging is that 34.1% of survey respondents said they expect median income families will be able to afford more than 50 percent of the homes in their neighborhood a year from now. This sentiment is especially true with people ages 18 to 34, the nation’s next group of first time homebuyers."