Forty percent of postwar homebuyers were distress buyers accepting any affordable house

Evidence

In a survey of homeowners conducted in the early 1950s, a significant number said that they would have preferred a more efficiently heated and ventilated house, but that preference was not a priority. By one estimate, as much as 40 percent of the housing market in the years just after the end of World War II consisted of “distress buyers,” families so desperate to find a house that they were willing to accept anything they could afford. The market also included a high percentage of first-time buyers – young families with more needs than income. The number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the layout, and the neighborhood came first. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 291

Categorization

• QUESTION: Where does the 40-percent distress-buyer estimate come from? Would be worth chasing for cross-course evidence.