Sales to first-time homebuyers faced a larger year-over-year drop than the housing market as a whole in the first half of 2019, but affordability is continuing to improve, Genworth reports.
In the past three quarters, overall home sales and sales to first-time homebuyers have slowed. First-time homebuyers purchased 559,000 single-family homes in Q2, down four percent from a year ago. This represents a shift in the housing market dynamic dating back to 2012.
For the first time, the year-over-year growth rate in home sales to first-time homebuyers underperformed the overall single-family housing market, which was down two percent year over year. Home sales to repeat buyers fell by one percent year over year, outperforming the overall market.
Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Hawaii, Delaware, and Oklahoma, which have all sustained growth up to this point, reported a declining first-time homebuyer market in Q2. Only nine states – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arkansas, and Rhode Island – reported increased purchase activities by first-time homebuyers.
