First-time buyers purchased more than half the homes sold in the state last year, a study released today finds.
The study from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and its national parent organization determined that the proportion of Bay State homes purchased by first-time buyers grew 5 percent between 2008 and 2009, from 45 percent to 52 percent. The association attributed the rise to affordable prices, historically low interest rates and a federal tax credit.
The study found that the median age of first-time home buyers dipped from 31 in 2008 to 30 in 2009. Looking at all buyers in the state, it also discovered that the number purchasing foreclosed homes rose from 7 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009. That took place despite a drop in the number of foreclosures.
In making their purchases, 54 percent of buyers in 2008 felt that it was a better investment than the stock market, up from 47 percent in 2008.
On the other side of transactions, just 6 percent of sellers said they had put their homes on the market because they couldn't afford mortgage payments or other homeowner-related expenses, with the majority citing factors like marriage, divorce and child-rearing. Nearly two-fifths of sellers did not reduce their asking prices before their home sold.
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