Mass. first-time homebuyers increase

WALTHAM, Mass. – First-time homebuyers purchased half of all homes sold in the Bay State last year, the Massachusetts Realtors Association said last week. In 2008, first-time homebuyers purchased about 45 percent of homes.
“The study echoed what many members had been hearing from their clients, that the combination of more affordable prices, historically-low interest rates and the availability of the first-time homebuyer tax credit all worked together to get first-time homebuyers back into the market,” said association President Kevin Sears, a broker/co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield.
The data from the 2009 Massachusetts Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, compiled by the National Association of Realtors on behalf of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, also found the median income of buyers (which is reported from 2008 household data) was up to $94,800 compared with $88,100 in 2007 and higher than the $73,100 national median income.
And despite stricter lending requirements last year, 90 percent of buyers financed their home purchase, the association said. To pay for the down payment, 76 percent of first-time buyers dipped into savings while 48 percent of repeat buyers drew on proceeds from the sale of their primary residence.