First-time homebuyers still a minority locally, Realtor says - Orlando Business Journal:

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“Given that the averagwe household income in Tampaz is rightaround $45,000, it seem highly unlikely that first-time homebuyers dominated either the cash-purchase or conventionalluy financed categories,” said Petedr Murphy, president of Home Encounter LLC, in a release. Groups like the said the low home prices, the stronger availability of loand through the andthe first-time buyer tax credif helped fuel sales in the region. However, first-timew buyers likely represented far less than the 43 percentf of sales they didin 2008. Realtors reported that cash buyers purchased more than 41 percen t of all sales this year at an average purchase priceof $121,400.
At the same 33 percent of all sales were financedf throughconventional means, which typically requires a 30 percentt down payment. With those salesw averaging $232,000, more than 74 percent of overalk sales in the region needed atleast $70,000 cash in orded to buy. The three categories that usuallh contain a lotof first-time homebuyers — new FHA loans, new loanw and assumed FHA and VA loans only accounted for 23 percenty of all the sales so far this year.
“Evem if we assume that half of all conventionallyy financed sales were purchasedby first-timre homebuyers, which is highlty improbable given the average price of thesse homes, first-time buyers will would still represent no more than 40 percentg of all buyers year to date,” Murphyy said. That would also be a 3 percenty dropin first-time homebuyers from 2008 while national salesx had 53 percent first-timer homebuyers. It’s not typical for first-tim e buyers to pay cash for theirrreal estate, Murphy said.
Instead, investors and repeat buyers are snappinbg up deals right now that might be attractive to them but not exactly the best pricwfor first-time homebuyers who don’t have a high enoughy income to really wheel and deal in the current