A Zillow report found that only 4.9 million renters say they plan to buy a home within the next year, down from 5.2 million in January.
The Wall Street Journal writes that renter confidence is weak in popular markets such as San Francisco and Denver. Those cities feature both expensive home prices and high rents, so saving for down payments is difficult.
The lack of first-time buyers is problematic because without them, the housing market does not contribute to economic growth. It merely cycles through existing owners.
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