First-time homebuyers find warm, cozy market
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Thanks to low interest rates, a 2009 tax credit and a market catered to them, first-time homebuyers are driving the local real estate market for the first time in at least two decades, local real estate agents said.
Many of those buyers are young and single, such as Ryan McConnell, 30, and Evan Curtis, 28. Others are young couples such as Josh and Amanda Meuwly, 25, and 22.
“It’s a buyer’s market, and we’ve been in a seller’s market for years,” said Joe Reed, a real estate agent for five years, including the past two with RE/MAX 4000.
Spend a few minutes with local first-time home buyers, and it’s easy to see that, although 2009 has brought an increased number of foreclosures in the county, the downturn in the real estate market is a blessing to others.
The Meuwlys, as well as McConnell and Curtis, purchased their homes within the past eight months.
All said they would not have been able to buy a house even a year ago.
“Homes are like 20 or 30 percent off what they were last year,” said Andrea Haitz, a real estate broker for Keller Williams. “It’s like going to the mall when everything’s on sale.”
