External LinkRead TEN magazine's interactive article on the challenges facing first-time homebuyers.
Summary
When Brandy Harper got divorced, she decided to look for a home of her very own to share with her twin teenage sons and their dog, Hippo.
She spent close to a year looking for a house in Lincoln, Nebraska, and had three main criteria: a dining room, a front porch and three bedrooms. She also wanted to live on a quiet street with no traffic. In the end, she ended up with none of those things, however she is happy to be on the other side of the homebuying process.
“I would normally say not to settle, as in some ways I did with the home I purchased, but in the end we have a safe and secure home that fits our needs,” she said.
The challenges facing people in Harper’s situation were explored by the Kansas City Fed in a January 2025 Economic Bulletin. The article, by Research Associate Chase Farha, Associate Economist John McCoy and Advanced Economics Specialist David Rodziewicz, found that over the last five years, house prices and higher financing costs have outpaced wage gains in the United States, making new homeownership less affordable in many parts of the country.