"First-time home buyers, long a key underpinning of the housing market, are increasingly getting left behind in the real-estate recovery.
Such buyers, typically couples in their late 20s or early 30s, have accounted for about 30% of home sales over the past year. They represented 40% of sales, on average, over the past 30 years, and accounted for more than 50% in 2009, when recession-era tax credits fueled the first-time market, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
First-time home buyers are the foundation of the real-estate market and are major contributors to their local economies, often buying up older homes, revitalizing communities and spending money on furniture and renovations.
In June, first-time buyers accounted for 29% of purchases of existing homes, compared with 32% in June a year ago, according to the NAR's June existing home-sales report released Monday.
The national median existing-home price was $214,200 in June, up 13.5% from a year ago".
From WSJ
