Trying to nail down how many first-time buyers are active in the housing market is not always the easiest. New York Federal Reserve researchers are trying to fix that.
Based on the New York Fed's Consumer Credit Panel data set of Equifax credit report data, the researchers wrote, "we are able to create a cleaner identification of first-time homebuyers than the official measure because we can look at the entire history of a household’s credit file back to 1999,” adding, “We define a first-time buyer as the first appearance of an active mortgage since 1999 with no indication of any prior closed mortgages on the borrower’s credit report,” MarketWatch reports.
The first time a mortgage appears on a credit profile is a more appropriate indicator of a first purchase than the URLA data provide, and a more precise measurement than second-hand self-reported identifications as those made through real estate agents, as the NAR data provide. It does have one flaw, however: because it relies on credit profiles, it does not capture home purchases made with cash.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Market Data + Trends
Vacation and Investment Home Market Insights
A recent report finds beach homes to be the most sought-after vacation-home type and that the investment potential of a second home is an important factor in the purchasing decision
Affordability
How Much Income Do First-Time Buyers Need to Afford the Average Home?
The median-priced home is unaffordable in 44 of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas
Affordability
What Is the Relationship Between Urban vs. Suburban Development and Affordability?
A new paper from Harvard's Joint Center looks at whether expanding the supply of suburban housing could, in turn, help make dense urban areas more affordable
