As 2025 grinds to its end, there is plenty to reflect on. How about the state of local real estate? Local analyst Arthur Sterbcow says been a bit of a mixed bag. “The huge story is that we didn’t have enormous insurance increases compared of the year before. That led to the sticker shock a lot of people got. Some people actually got reductions in some parts of the city,” he illustrates. However, a glaring lack of first-time home buyers across the state stands out.
“The big change, which stems mostly from insurance and high interest rates, is the lack of first-time home buyers in the market. It’s been pretty dramatic from what we’ve seen over the years,” Sterbcow notes. Normally, 28%-34% of the home sales each year would be first-time home buyers. That average wasn’t met in 2025, which Sterbcow says is adversely impacting the average sales price for homeowners looking to sell in the region as well .
Historically, the age for first time home buyers has been from 29-33 years old for decades. This past year, the average age was 38 years of age nationally. Sterbcow says inflation, stagnant wages, and higher interest rates have all been factors. “The cost of groceries, gas, car insurance, home repairs … those are the expenses really eating people up,” he emphasizes. The amount of people struggling to make ends meet continues to grow, and that hasn’t been great news for the market.
However, he expects interest rates to drop significantly next year, which should move the needle both nationally and locally. “People are frozen in their homes because they’re sitting on 4% mortgages and they’re saying, ‘I’m not giving up my 4% mortgage to go out and buy something at 6%’, that would be crazy,” Sterbcow illustrates. “I would tell anybody that the time to buy a home is now. We are going to see higher home prices in 2026. As interest rates fall and hopefully down to a quarter, a half, or three quarters … any drop in interest rates means more first-time home buyers being able to buy a home,” Sterbcow went on to emphasize.