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For a lot of first-time buyers, owning a home can feel perpetually a few years out of reach. Saving for a down payment takes time, and each year you spend renting can make owning feel further off.But buying your first home doesn’t have to happen to feel like a far away goal. Two choices you control can bring your first home years closer, even with affordability as tight as it is right now.How Long Buying Really TakesFirst, one quick definition. “Breaking even” is the point where owning has cost you about the same as renting would have over the same period. And after that point, owning starts to cost less than renting. Kara Ng, Senior Economist at Zillow, puts it this way:

“Buyers should think about not just when they can afford to buy, but how long they’d need to stay before owning makes more financial sense than renting.“

So how long does reaching that point usually take? And what are the shortcuts? Let’s do the math.According to Zillow, it usually takes about 8.5 years to save for a 20% down payment, then roughly 6.2 more years before owning costs the same as renting. Together, that’s just under 15 years. But that math relies on two assumptions: that you’re buying a mid-priced home, and that you’re putting 20% down. Change either one and your timeline gets shorter. Change both and it can shrink fast. It also varies widely by market, since local prices and rents are different depending on where you live. A Starter Home Can Get You There Twice as FastA starter home usually means a home in the lower third of local prices. They’re often condos, townhomes, or single-family homes a little smaller or older than others in the area. Choosing one over a mid-priced home can cut your wait down by a lot. And while that might sound obvious, you may not realize just how much it shortens your timeline. Because if you’re buying a more affordable home, you don’t have to save up as much or as long.Zillow found that nationwide, a starter home takes half the time – about 7.2 years – to save for and come out ahead on, compared with renting (see graph below):That works out to about 4.6 years to save and 2.6 years to break even. It won’t erase every affordability challenge, but it can take years off the wait. And if you’ve already been saving for a while, it could get you closer to making it a reality.You Usually Don’t Need To Put 20% DownYou, like many first-time homebuyers, might assume you need a 20% down payment to even consider buying. But a lot of the time, you don’t. Most first-time buyers don’t put down anywhere near that. The National Association of Realtors shows the median down payment for first-time buyers is 10% (see graph below):And the minimums go lower still. Some buyers put down as little as 3% on a conventional loan or 3.5% on an FHA loan, and eligible veterans or buyers in certain rural areas can put down nothing at all.There’s help with the upfront costs of buying, too. Down Payment Resource counts 2,746 assistance programs nationwide, and some are even stackable:

“Some homebuyers can layer multiple sources of assistance to reduce their upfront costs. Layering means combining more than one eligible source of funding as part of your home purchase.”

Put those together – a lower price point, a smaller down payment, and help covering it – and the years you thought you needed start to come down.Bottom LineYour first home may not be as far off as it feels. When the numbers make sense for you, buying a starter home and putting down less than 20% can get you there years sooner. Want to see which starter homes in your area could fit your budget? A local real estate agent can show you.

Half the buyers out there are scared home prices are about to crash. The other half are hoping they will.A recent survey from Clever found 58% of Gen Z buyers are actually rooting for a crash, just so homeownership feels within reach.So, what do the forecasts actually say?Every quarter, Fannie Mae surveys more than 100 housing experts on where prices are headed. The newest results are in. And spoiler alert: they’re not calling for a crash – not even the pessimists.What the Newest Numbers Actually SayThe panel’s latest forecast has prices climbing every single year through at least 2030.The panel’s average forecast is that prices will rise by 14.7% in the next 5 years. And here’s where it gets really interesting. If you split these experts into optimists and pessimists, even the pessimists still expect prices to increase about 6.6% by the end of 2030 (see graph below):The takeaway? If you’ve been waiting for prices to fall, you may be waiting a while.One thing to keep in mind though – these are national numbers. Prices in your area could run a little hotter or a little cooler than this, so it helps to know what’s happening locally, too. But the big picture is prices aren’t crashing. Historically prices usually rise.How This Quarter Compares to the PastHere’s something you probably don’t realize. This survey runs 4 times every year, so you can track the panel’s mood over time.A year ago, the panel expected home prices to grow 2.1% this year. Now they’re forecasting 2.5%. That means the near-term outlook actually got more optimistic. But that’s only part of the story. The years after that shifted, too (see graph below):Zoom out to 2027 through 2029 and the mood has cooled a bit. Each of those years is now expected to see a little less growth than the panel thought a year ago. That’s likely a reflection of where we are right now with everything that’s impacting the housing market.But again, the overall takeaway here is every bar shows an increase in prices – the size of that increase has just moderated due to some of the factors at play.A slower climb isn’t a bad thing, though. It’s a sign the market is settling into a more normal pace after a few wild years.A little more growth here, a little less growth there. What hasn’t budged once is the idea that home prices will keep growing.What It Means for Your Next MoveNow, percentages are great, but you probably care more about the actual dollars and cents of your move, so let’s graph that out, too.Run the numbers on a $400,000 home bought in January, and the panel’s latest forecast puts you up about $58,000 in equity in 5 years just from price growth (see graph below):That’s real wealth you could be building while others sit on the sidelines, waiting for a crash the experts don’t see coming. And with prices expected to keep rising, waiting could mean paying more for the same home later.Bottom LineWhether you’re bracing for a crash or hoping for one, the verdict is the same – prices are still expected to rise, not fall. Talk with a local real estate agent about what that means for your market and your plans.

Price cuts are turning up everywhere right now, and they read very differently depending on which side of the deal you’re on.Sellers tend to worry a cut means walking away with less than they hoped. Sometimes that’s true, but more often it just means the market moved faster than the listing did.Buyers, for their part, often assume a cut means something’s wrong with the house. Most of the time, that’s not it.This is what’s actually driving all those price cuts, and why it matters no matter which side of the deal you’re on.42% of Homes for Sale Are Now Carrying a Price CutAccording to HousingWire Data, the share of sellers cutting their asking price has climbed every month for 7 straight months (see chart below): Today, more than 4 in 10 active listings have had at least 1 price cut, and the typical seller is cutting about $17,560 off their original number. Here’s why that’s happening. With rates still elevated and more homes to choose from, buyers can afford to wait for the right number. So, sellers who don’t start there often end up adjusting anyway.What does that mean for you?If you’re selling, this isn’t a red flag. But it is a sign that pricing it right from day 1 is your best bet. Just know that the market’s been shifting fast enough this year that sometimes even a well-priced house can fall behind within a matter of weeks. If that happens to you, dropping your price to catch up to where pricing actually stands today tends to bring in more buyers and helps you sell closer to true market value.If you’re buying, it’s easy to assume a price cut means something’s wrong with the house. But with cuts happening on more than 4 in 10 homes right now, the reality is sellers are just catching up to where the market already is. And with affordability still tight, that’s exactly the kind of opening you need to get a better deal.Why Sellers Are Adjusting Faster than BeforeHousingWire Data also shows list prices are trending down nationally. That’s often a sign sellers are pricing more realistically from the start instead of listing high and getting stuck cutting later. List prices have fallen about $26,000 from last year’s peak.Some of that decline is seasonal, since list prices typically soften each winter before rebounding in the spring. So, expect asking prices to keep drifting a little lower before turning back around (see chart below): Jake Krimmel, Senior Economist at Realtor.com, explains: 

“That is good news for buyers, who are seeing lower asking prices and more room to negotiate, but it is also good news for sellers: Pricing to today’s demand is helping homes move and keeping more transactions alive in a high-rate environment.”

Translation – with rates still elevated, buyers can only stretch so far. Sellers who meet them where they are instead of holding out for unrealistic prices are the ones actually getting to closing. And doing that up front is always better than chasing the market later.Buyers, You’ve Got Room To Negotiate AgainAt the same time, Redfin data shows sellers now outnumber buyers by about 58%, the widest gap on record (see chart below): That changes the power dynamics of the market – and impacts how homeowners should price their house. Nationally, about 7 in 10 markets now favor buyers or are trending that way.For sellers, that means standing out matters as much as pricing. With more homes to choose from, buyers are comparing you directly against the competition. So, a little flexibility, like covering closing costs or being open on timing, can be what gets your house picked over another.For buyers, it means more room to ask for a lower price, help with closing costs, repairs after inspection, or some combination of all 3. That’s especially true for homes that have already sat for weeks, where sellers are often the most willing to talk.Bottom LinePrice cuts are a normal part of today’s housing market, and both buyers and sellers can use them to their advantage. Connect with a local real estate agent to look at what’s actually happening with prices in your neighborhood, so you know exactly where you stand before you list or make an offer.