Two Years Later, First-Time Buyers Are Still Stuck on the Starting Line

For two years, first-time buyers have been put through the wringer of a competitive housing market characterized by soaring prices, bidding wars, and all-cash offers. As monthly mortgage payments reach new highs, young house hunters are finding it more difficult than ever before to keep up with the competition, especially when a large share of competing buyers are previous homeowners backed by equity wealth.

As a result, first-time buyers currently account for the smallest share of the market in the 41 years that the National Association of Realtors has tracked such data, The New York Times reports. On the contrary, the most prominent buyer demographic consists of repeat buyers who are older, wealthier, and whiter than any leading buyer pool seen in decades.

The share of white buyers jumped to 88 percent during the survey year, representing the largest share of white buyers since 1997. The share of Black buyers fell to 3 percent from 6 percent, and Asian/Pacific Islander buyers fell to 2 percent from 6 percent from the previous survey year. The median age for all buyers was 53 years old, the oldest they’ve been since 1981, when the association first conducted its survey.

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