First-Time Homebuyers: Toward a New Measure

Arthur Acolin
University of Washington

Paul Calem
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Julapa Jagtiani
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Susan Wachter
University of Pennsylvania

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 article, we use a new dataset 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, shows a significant decline in the share of first-time homebuyers, particularly among young households, consistent with the decline in homeownership in this age cohort since the early 2000s.