First time home buyers

With fun downtowns, outdoor recreation, and lesser-known food scenes, these cities offer great options for anyone on the hunt for their first home.

Democrats reintroduce a $100 billion housing equity bill to help first-generation buyers and address racial disparities in homeownership.

Rapidly rising tuition and housing costs both contributed to lower homeownership rates and a more than twofold surge in student debt in under 15 years.

As the lock-in effect deters many current homeowners from buying, the housing market is seeing younger clients stepping in, often with government-backed loans.

The legislation is aimed at loosening regulation of new-home construction in the Grand Canyon State, where median prices have shot up by 59% since 2020.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is the top housing market for first-time homebuyers, having a median home price of $140,000 between November 2023 and November 2024.

Mortgage companies are looking for ways to open up credit to more borrowers, but insurance-cost spikes have made a difficult situation more challenging.

San Jose, California, is the most expensive city with a median home price of $1,528,500, while Detroit is the least, with a median home price of $192,000.

Figure Technology Solutions introduced a "piggyback" home equity line of credit platform for its lending partners.

writes the Senior Economist for LendingTree

Some recipients of the new multimillion-dollar funding announced this week include several organizations partnering with historically Black colleges and universities.

While the lock-in effect on existing supply has helped drive consumer interest in new construction, first-time buyers have been taking a greater share of that inventory.

The government will also begin allowing mortgage default insurance on homes worth up to C$1.5 million ($1.1 million), an increase from the current cap of C$1 million.

The credit scoring agency will provide an education curriculum to a leading minority trade group, aimed at helping mortgage professionals learn more about financial wellness and help their potential clients attain homeownership.

However, a significant minority, more than one-in-10, stated although they want to buy, they will never be able to afford to do so, Insurify found.

Across the country over the past two years, the share of homes affordable to a first-time home buyer has fallen to 29% from 34% in 1Q23 and 45% in 1Q22, First American Financial said.

The sales pace is now at the low end of the range seen over the past year, suggesting limited momentum amid a lack of affordability.

Federal Housing Administration-backed lending was the only mortgage type to grow in volume at the end of last year, but the pace of decline among originations overall also slowed.

Affordability challenges also have some aspiring homeowners taking second jobs or looking to draw from retirement savings, according to Redfin.

The racial gap in first-time buyers' ability to maintain their status as owners has also narrowed over the last two decades, the agency's researchers reported.