Stop us if you’ve heard this story before: The housing market remains stuck. Mortgage rates remain stubbornly high. It’s the same case with home prices. Oh, and it’s a terrible time to be a first-time homebuyer.

But new data shows that first-time homebuyers may actually have made up a greater share of all home purchases than previously thought.

“Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio spoke with Marketplace's senior economics contributor Chris Farrell for more. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: So it can be done? People who've never owned a house can buy a home? There are actual examples of this occurring?

Chris Farrell: Yes, there are. Look, David, first-time homebuyers, they're a resilient group, and that word "resilient," it's favored by an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And they did this intriguing series of studies on first-time homebuyers, and the economists document that the share of purchased mortgages by first-time homebuyers, as well as their share of home purchases, increased slightly in recent years.

Brancaccio: Are they sure? I pay attention to this, and I recall contradictory data showing first-timers are especially having trouble buying. Why the turnabout?

Farrell: Data, David. Data. Now, you're right. The National Association of Realtors, they previously reported that first-time homebuyers represented only 24% of home sales between July of 2023 and June of 2024. And that figure, it was disturbing; it was the lowest in the history of the Realtors data going back to 1981. And obviously, the figure generated dismay that the dream of home ownership for millions of renters was fading.

Brancaccio: So the New York Fed economists come in, they take a second look, and what do they find?

Farrell: Well, they take a really deep dive into the data, and they say, "Look, here's the thing. The National Association of Realtors annual survey, it's very legitimate, but it has a small response rate — 3.6% or slightly more than 6,800 responses." Instead, they tapped into the New York Fed's quarterly report on household debt and credit — and I'm sure, over the years, David, that you've looked at that data — and it captures about 5% of the population with a credit report, or approximately 14 million individuals. And one important finding is that first-time buyers had a 35% share of all home purchases in 2023, and that was up from 28% in 2013.

Brancaccio: All right. I mean, doing better than many had feared is OK, could have been worse. But it remains hard for renters to buy their first home. I mean, inventories of homes are low, prices are high, mortgage rates are not a bargain.

Farrell: Not at all. I mean, I think this is the case of "the economic glass is half full." I mean, look, first-time homebuyers are faring better than expected, but in a market that's difficult for everyone.

Brancaccio: Right. Back to these resilient first-time homebuyers. How did the successful buyers pull it off?

Farrell: Well, the economists kind of emphasized two trends: First, average credit scores for first-time homebuyers rose by nearly 10%. So that improved them, helped them maintain access to mortgages with decent interest rates. They also found that these first-time homebuyers, they went to lower-income zip codes, lower-income neighborhoods, defined houses selling at a cheaper price.