Tough housing market is luring buyers without kids and higher incomes

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/ [login to see] /tough-housing-market-is-luring-buyers-without-kids-and-higher-incomes
Anyone shopping for a home right now has to contend with a double whammy of high prices and high interest rates. To make matters worse, there aren't a lot of homes on the market to choose from.

A survey by mortgage giant Fannie Mae found 85% of Americans think it's a bad time to buy a home.

Still, some people are taking the plunge. First-time buyers accounted for nearly a third of home sales during the 12 months ending in June, according to an annual snapshot from the National Association of Realtors. A record 70% of all buyers didn't have children under 18 living at home.

Lance Zaldivar bought his first home over the summer, not long after getting out of the Marine Corps. He socked away money for the down payment during his last deployment in Kosovo. His fiancee, Jasmin Benitez, also had some savings from her job as a nurse practitioner.