According to a report by KYW Newsradio, the National Association of Realtors’ annual survey – which was just released this month – found that first time homebuyers made up just 33 percent of the market, nationally. That’s the lowest rate in nearly 30 years. Historically, it’s been about 40 percent.
However, the geographic breakdown showed a different story for the Mid-Atlantic region – which includes Philly.
Research director Jessica Lautz told KYW that “while many areas of the country are showing this huge dip in first time homebuyers, we’re not actually seeing that in the mid-Atlantic. In fact, the first time homebuyer share is at 42 percent, which is a little bit higher than the historical average.”
Lautz said that higher wages and greater job opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic may be why that market remains robust here.
She said, though, first-time homebuyers face many of the same challenges here as elsewhere: a tight mortgage market and student loan debt that makes saving for a downpayment difficult.
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