Dive Brief:

• A study says that there could be a larger number of first-timers buying houses, despite tight credit standards and student debt, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
• Even with those real hindrances factored in, the center concluded that more than half of renters in many U.S. metro areas could handle homeownership financially.
• In the first quarter of this year, however, RealtyTrac figures show that 42.7% of all U.S. home sales were cash transactions, and institutional investors – 10 or more home purchases in a calendar year – accounted for 5.6% of home buys in Q1 after making up 7% of them in 2013.

Dive Insight:

The results of the study are not definitive, but suggests that the lower percentage of traditional first-time homeowners is not attributable to debt and qualifying alone. The question remains how much of the decline is a result of a from cultural shifts away from the "American Dream" ownership ideal.