New data show that first-time home buyers aren’t playing as big a role in the mortgage market as they did a few years ago, when prices were lower and a big tax credit fueled a surge of sales.
The research from the Federal Housing Finance Agency looks at the share of mortgages taken out by first-time buyers from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration over the last two decades and across all 50 states.
The first-time buyer share peaked at 63% in 2009, at the height of the tax-credit frenzy, and hit a low of 37% in 2003. The share was relatively stable in the late 1990s, hovering around 45%. It stood at 56% last year.
via First-Time Buyer Comparisons Can Be Deceiving in Housing Market – Real Time Economics – WSJ.