St. Louis, Detroit Top Zillow's Best Housing Markets for First-Time Home Buyers
• St. Louis and Detroit topped Zillow's 2024 list of best housing markets for first-time home buyers based on affordability, availability of affordable listings, and competition
• Austin ranked highly due to its large number of similar-aged households for first-time buyers to build community
• First-time buyers accounted for 50% of 2023 home purchases, the highest share since Zillow began tracking this metric in 2018
• The “rate lock” effect has kept some repeat buyers on sidelines as current low mortgage rates incentivize them to keep existing homes
• Zillow advises spring homebuyers get finances in order quickly amid fast-moving market and increased listings from new construction and more sellers