First-Time Homebuyers Are Searching for Longer

Realtor.com reports that about a quarter of first-time homebuyers spend over a year searching for a home.

Of the buyers in the market this past spring, about 42% were shopping for a home for the first time. And their search took longer than ever.

About a quarter of those first-time buyers were looking for more than a year, compared with just 11% two years ago. Meanwhile, nearly a third were in the market for more than six months, compared with only 18% two years earlier.

Unlike baby boomers and many move-up buyers, they often don't have decades of savings to fall back on. (About three-quarters of them are under the age of 45.) And they can't sell a home and capitalize on the equity from the sale to put toward the purchase of a new residence. Making it even more stressful, competition for affordably priced properties is fierce.

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