San Joaquin Homes Community Blog

With home prices down approximately 25 percent from their peak levels in some markets, many first-time home buyers are finding they now can purchase a home that previously may have been out of reach. According to a recent survey from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, first-time home buyers accounted for 41 percent of all buyers at the end of 2008, up from 36 percent in 2006.

· As homes stay on the market longer, some sellers are becoming more willing to negotiate the sales price than they were a few months ago. This is providing home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, with more opportunities than were previously available. Nationwide in 2008, the typical first-time home buyer purchased a home costing $165,000 nationwide.

· Although lower home prices mean more options for home buyers, it is important that home buyers still meet the minimum qualifications to qualify for a mortgage loan. Qualifications may include a FICO score of 720 or higher, and a 20 percent down payment.

· In California , 59 percent of the state’s households could afford to purchase an entry level home in the fourth quarter, compared with only 33 percent during the same time period the year before. The median price of an entry-level home during the fourth quarterly was $248,030. Typically, first-time home buyers purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price.

Posted 2-21-09