Numbers Up and Down Show It's a Good Market for First-Time Buyers

Home sales increased just over 35 percent in May in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined 30.4 percent. These numbers were reported by the California Association of Realtors last week. According to CAR, affordability for first-time buyers is at a record high. And those buyers are taking advantage of the combination of favorable home prices, historically low mortgage rates, and first-time home buyer tax credits. All this is happy news for the many buyers who were sidelined by the soaring prices of just a few years ago.