First-Time Buyers Make Their Mark

First-time buyers purchased 54 percent of all resale homes soldin Illinois last year.

Illinois and Wisconsin were the only Midwestern states to showincreases in first-time buyers since the beginning of 1989, accordingto a study by Century 21 Real Estate Corp.

Illinois recorded the highest activity with a 10.5 percentincrease in the proportion of first-time buyers since 1989, and a 4.8percent increase in 1992. Declines in first-time buyers werelisted for the four other Midwestern states in the survey - Ohio,Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.

According to Century 21 President and CEO Dick Loughlin, theleveling off of first-time activity may be attributed to an increasein the proportion of move-up buyers.

"The move-up market is growing in this area because of itsrelatively stronger economic situation, which has created more stablereal estate conditions," Loughlin said.

"First-time buyers will continue to be an important part of themarket in the 1990s," said Loughlin. "But move-up buyer activitywill eventually expand as conditions stabilize and buyers takeadvantage of low interest rates while they last."

First-time buyers represented 40.8 percent of all residentialreal estate transactions nationwide in the Century 21 system's 1991study, compared with 38.4 percent in 1990 and 38 percent in 1989.

"First-time home buyers now represent the largest portion of allhome buyers in the national residential real estate market," saidLoughlin.