A new analysis from LendingTree shows that mortgage purchase inquiries on its platform in 2025 revealed that at least 55% of inquiries in every major U.S. metro were from first-time homebuyers.
That may surprise you, given everything that’s been written lately about the difficulty facing first-time homebuyers, many of whom have simply given up on the idea of homeownership, LendingTree said. Most surprisingly, LendingTree noted that many of the nation’s most expensive housing markets are among the most likely to be dominated by first-time homebuyers.
LendingTree said that seven of the 10 metros where the largest share of loan shoppers are first-time homebuyers are in California, including the top five: San Jose (75.2%), Fresno (73.2%), Los Angeles (72.9%), San Francisco (71.0%) and Riverside (69.6%).
The only non-California metros in the top 10 are Boston (68.8%), New York (68.5%) and Seattle (66.9%).
Younger, Earn Less, Lower Credit Scores
At the opposite end of the list, just 55.6% of loan shoppers in Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, Florida, are first-time buyers. Raleigh, North Carolina (56.4%), Tampa, Florida (56.5%), and St. Louis, Missouri, and Indianapolis, Indiana (both 56.7%) are close behind.
LendingTree noted that first-time homebuyers are younger, earn less and have lower credit scores than repeat buyers.
It said that on the LendingTree platform, first-time buyers are on average 37.5 years old, up from 35.8 a year ago and they earn $95,309 a year and have a 707 credit score.
That compares with 50.5 years old, $140,029 in annual income and a 736 credit score among repeat buyers, LendingTree said.
Even so, first-timers receive nearly as many offers (5.0 on average, versus 5.3).
LendingTree said that first-time homebuyers also borrow less and put down far less, yet they pay slightly higher interest rates.
The typical first-time buyer loan is $304,111 at a 6.44% APR, compared with $337,300 at a 6.35% APR among repeat buyers, LendingTree said. First-time buyers also put down an average of 13.8% ($55,471), compared with 22.8% ($119,270) for repeat buyers.
Smaller Down Payments
LendingTree noted that 30.5% of first-time buyers say they intend to put down less than 10%, compared with 14.8% of repeat buyers.
Also, LendingTree said that first-time buyers may have smaller payments, but the impact on their budgets is greater. First=time buyers spend an average of 23.2% of their annual income on principal and interest payments each month, compared with 17.4% among repeat buyers, even though their average monthly payment is lower ($1,844 versus $2,030).
While metros with higher percentages of first-time buyers are primarily coastal, those at the bottom of the list are mostly Southern or Midwestern, LendingTree said.
The gap between San Jose (75.2%) and Oklahoma City and Jacksonville (both 55.6%) is nearly 20 percentage points. However, that’s far from the only difference. For example, the average loan amount in San Jose is $642,766, while the combined average loan amounts in Oklahoma City ($218,830) and Jacksonville ($253,777) are just $472,607. Also, the average credit score for a first-time buyer in San Jose is 726. In Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, it’s 701 and 713, respectively.
That last part is surely significant, as your credit score plays a huge role in your ability to get a home. Add in the fact that San Jose residents have one of the highest incomes in the nation, and it stands to reason that they would be at the top of this list, despite the high cost of housing in the area.
