Are first time home buyers a bigger share of the market than you think?

Have you read FHFA Brief 14-02 that was released on July 31st? Probably not, but that’s okay. It a housing & mortgage policy study on first time homebuyers. I read it because I think developing great first time home buyer programs is the most memberlicious thing a Credit Union can do.

The study results are based on data sets from loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and loans endorsed by the Federal Housing Administration. That’s a lot of loans – maybe 80% to 90% of all production.

You can read the whole report here.

Or you can read on…..

The report is not the most enlightening document I’ve ever read. It shows that when housing prices are going up that first time home buyer market share goes down – presumably because they are priced out of the market.

Inversely, it shows that when home prices are declining or flat, that the share of first time home buyers goes up as homes are deemed more affordable.

The most interesting part of the report is page 3 of the brief to see what the first time home buyer share is by state.

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