First-Time Homebuyers: Toward a New Measure

Abstract

Existing data sources show divergent estimates of the number of homes purchased by first-time homebuyers as a share of all home purchases. In this paper, we use a new data set to construct a time series of the share of first-time homebuyers. This series, based on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Equifax Consumer Credit Panel (CCP), shows a significant decline in this share, particularly for young households, which is consistent with the decline in homeownership in this age cohort since the early 2000s.

Keywords: first-time home buyers, homeownership, credit access, housing market trends

JEL Classification: R30, R31, R38