WSJ Says First Time Homebuyers Are Back

First-Time Homebuyers Jump Back in the Game

Sellers are getting the message and cutting their asking price, real estate professionals say. That, along with the recent drop in interest rates, is encouraging first-time buyers to start looking again.

The interest rate picture "has created some momentum for first-time buyers, not to write an offer today, but to start looking again and be serious about moving in January or February," says Phil Sveum, broker-owner of Coldwell Banker Sveum, REALTORS®, in Madison, Wis.

A growing number of first-time buyers in Florida's Tampa Bay area are taking advantage of special deals from builders looking to unload newly constructed homes that are bloating their inventories, says Craig Beggins, president of Century 21 Beggins Enterprises.

Affordability remains a problem for many would-be buyers. In the second quarter, buyers had to stretch more than ever before in 25 of the top 50 markets, according to Bank of America analyst Daniel Oppenheim. Even with the recent price declines, he estimates that to make homes as affordable as they have been in the last decade, home prices would have to drop another 7 percent in 2007 while incomes rose 4 percent.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Ruth Simon (11/13/2006)