Online Car Buyers Not Discouraged by Housing Market Decline
February 13, 2008
Despite the plummeting U.S. housing market, online car buyers say that they have not changed their plans on when to purchase a new vehicle.
In a new survey conducted by consumer automotive web site BuyingAdvice.com, 63 percent of those questioned said that they were not concerned about the state of the housing market and it would not impact their car buying decision.
On top of that figure, an additional 25 percent of the sample said although they have concerns about the current state of the housing market, it would not impact their car buying decision.
Only 12 percent of the 1521 prospective buyers polled said that the state of the housing market concerned them enough that it would impact their next car buying decision.
Likewise, the majority of new car buyers remain optimistic that the drop in the housing market and the sub-prime lending crisis will not impact their ability to obtain financing for their new car purchase. Over 76 percent said that they didn’t believe that their credit rating or ability to obtain financing would be impacted.
Only 13 percent expected the lending crisis to make it more difficult for them to get a good interest rate and 11 percent felt it was more difficult for them to obtain credit.
More than half of the sample said they expected to pay cash or personal finance to buy their next vehicle while 37 percent said they were expecting to obtain financing through a bank or dealership and only 3 percent planned to use funds from a house sale or refinance to buy their vehicle.
When asked how they expected housing prices to change over the next twelve months, 35 percent of respondents expect housing prices will fall, while 28 percent expect an increase in prices and 35 percent expect housing prices to remain pretty much the same.
The study was the latest in a series of polls being taken by the consumer advice and price quote web site that provides one of the most current and comprehensive representations of buyer opinion amongst online car buyers. The sample was taken from the over 50,000 consumers who use the web site’s online price quote service each month. Participants stated they were within 30 days of making a new car purchase.
