First-time buyers represented 32 percent of nationwide sales in all of 2016

Market Trend

First-time buyers represented 32 percent of nationwide sales in all of 2016

Many first-time buyers are starting to feel like they just can’t catch a break. The continued limited inventories of homes for sale in the entry-level market and a number of other factors are pressing harder on first-timers who are trying to break in to home ownership.

“Constrained inventory in many areas and climbing rents, home prices, and mortgage rates means it’s not getting any easier to be a first-time buyer,” says Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®. “It will take more entry-level supply, continued job gains, and even stronger wage growth for first-timers to make up a greater share of the market.”

First-time buyers represented 32 percent of nationwide sales in all of 2016, NAR reported Tuesday.