First-time home buyers accounted for 28 percent of existing home sales in July 2015 (30 percent in June 2015; 29 percent in July 2014), according to the July 2015 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey report.12 REALTORS® reported that homes are increasingly becoming unaffordable and that sellers are reluctant to move because they can’t find affordable homes. Home prices have been rising faster than the annual growth in median household income of about two percent annually. As of June 2015, home prices were up at six percent annually.

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Buyers age 34 and under, a group that covers first-time buyers, accounted for 27 percent of sales. The share of this age group to total sales has been essentially unchanged since last year.
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12 First-time buyers accounted for about 33 percent of all home buyers based on data from NAR’s 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (HBS). The HBS is a survey of primary residence home buyers and does not capture investor purchases but does cover both existing and new home sales. The RCI Survey is a survey of REALTORS® about their transactions and captures purchases for investment purposes and second homes for existing homes.

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