First-time buyers benefit from housing slump
5/11/2009Kostas Kalaitzidis wanted to buy a home when he moved to Phoenix in 2008, but between his modest salary and the expensive market, he couldn’t swing it.
What a difference a year makes.
Kalaitzidis recently made an offer on a home priced at $82,000, far less than the $220,000 it might have fetched last year.
“I’m very glad I waited,” Kalaitzidis said. “People like me are the ones buying in now.”
First-time buyers like Kalaitzidis are dominating the real estate market right now. They snapped up 53 percent of all properties sold during March 2009, up from the usual 40 percent or less, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
While America’s declining home values have wrought havoc on home sellers, owners and lenders, first-time buyers can celebrate the housing market bust, and may even help fix it. The Realtors' group expects first-timers to account for the majority of home sales through the remainder of 2009.
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