First-Time Home Buyers Find a Tough Market—Here’s What’s Different This Year
Starry-eyed first-time home buyers are getting a rude awakening to the realities of today’s high-stakes home-buying market.
The coronavirus pandemic supercharged the housing market, as buyers urgently seeking more space flooded the market, lured by low mortgage rates. That’s on top of the usual dynamics of household expansion: Many millennials hit 30 and wanted homes that could accommodate a growing family. Amid a historic shortage of properties for sale, the result has been bidding wars and record-high prices. It’s enough to make a first-time buyer‘s head spin.
Just under half of first-time buyers and more than a third of prospective buyers were either outbid on their dream home or discovered they couldn’t afford it, according to a recent realtor.com® housing survey. Roughly a fifth of these buyers made five or more offers on different properties before having one accepted.
