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NeighborWorks America 
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94% of NeighborWorks® America Network Homebuyers Bought Their First Home Last Year, More Than Four Times the National Share

Five years of data show how the NeighborWorks network supports first-time homebuyers and households earning well below their area’s median income. Compared with national mortgage activity in 2025, the findings highlight the NeighborWorks network’s reach among these homebuyers and the role that homebuyer education and counseling play in preparing them for homeownership. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — October 19, 2026 — In Federal Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025), 94% of the homebuyers who closed with one of the nearly 250 nonprofits in the nationwide NeighborWorks® America network were buying their first home. The typical network homebuyer was 36, with a household income of $66,000.

First-time buyers accounted for 21% of home purchases nationally in 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors. Affordability remains a significant barrier. An October 2026 report from the National Housing Conference found that workers could afford a typically priced home in just 14% of the job and housing markets it tracks. In occupations where workers could no longer afford to purchase a home, average annual earnings were $70,283. Despite these challenges, NeighborWorks network homebuyers continue to achieve homeownership with support from counseling, education, and down payment and closing cost assistance.

Over the last five fiscal years, the median purchase price for NeighborWorks network homebuyers increased 26%, from $206,000 to $260,500, while their median household income increased 24%, from $53,000 to $66,000. During the same period, the median first mortgage amount increased by 20%, compared with a 26% increase in purchase prices. Down payment and closing cost assistance may have helped offset this difference, with median assistance increasing 67% to $16,700, representing 6.4% of the median purchase price, up from 4.9%. Over the same five years, 84% of network homebuyers received eight or more hours of homebuyer education or counseling.

The findings are based on five years of home purchase closing data reported by NeighborWorks network organizations and analyzed by NeighborWorks America’s Business Intelligence team. The analysis compares network data with national Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records for comparable home purchase loans originated in 2025. At least 90% of network homebuyers were first-time buyers in each of the five years. The network data reflect households that received assistance from a NeighborWorks network organization in purchasing a home.

“Our organizations sit down with people who have been told the math does not work for them, and then they help make it work,” said Marietta Rodriguez, President & CEO, NeighborWorks America. “Eight hours or more of counseling, an honest look at what a family can afford, a down payment they did not think they could assemble. Last year that added up to 94% of our homebuyers closing on a first home, on a median income of $66,000, in cities, suburbs, and small towns alike.” 

Who is buying

• First-time buyers: 94% in FY2025, and at least 90% in each of the last five years, as compared to 21% nationally in 2025.
• Household income: a median of $66,000 in FY2025, up $13,000 (24%) since FY2021. In the last five years, the NeighborWorks network homebuyer median income was $58,000, compared to $112,000 in the general market in 2025.
• Income relative to local cost: over five years, 50% of NeighborWorks network homebuyers earned less than 80% of Area Median Income, as compared to 27% of buyers nationally in 2025. The network’s FY2025 share was 47%.
• Age: a median of 36 in FY2025, consistent across all five years. Over that period, 74% of network homebuyers were under 45, compared with 66% of the general market in 2025.
• Household size: a median of two people, consistent between FY2021 and FY2025.

Where they are buying

The NeighborWorks network’s efforts are not concentrated in any one region of the U.S. In the last five years, 43% of network homebuyers purchased in suburban census tracts, 40% in urban tracts, and 17% in rural tracts, a mix that shifted only slightly between FY2021 and FY2025: suburban up 1.2 percentage points, rural down 1.6 percentage points.

What they are buying, and how they are paying for it

• First mortgage: a median of $233,600 in FY2025, up $38,600 (20%) since FY2021, as compared to $315,000 in the general market in 2025.
• Mortgage insurance:  nearly half of NeighborWorks network homebuyers had no mortgage insurance at closing, an increase from 32% in FY2021 to 46% in FY2025. During the same period, the share of homebuyers with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance declined from 35% to 28%, while the share with private mortgage insurance remained relatively stable, ranging from 13.6% to 15.6%. 

Education behind every closing

Every homebuyer counted in this analysis received at least one hour of homebuyer education or counseling from a network organization or formal partner. The network goes well past that baseline: over the last five years, 84% received eight hours or more, and nearly 100% received at least four.

“Our network reports these transactions loan by loan, at the homebuyer’s closing, which allows us to compare our network’s efforts to national home purchase trends,” said Michael Butchko, Vice President of Business Intelligence, NeighborWorks America. “We consistently see households earning about 60% of the market’s income reaching the closing table, and arriving there prepared because of NeighborWorks organizations.”

This analysis is part of NeighborWorks America’s ongoing efforts to share new data and insights on the homebuyers served by its network and the factors shaping access to homeownership. A full list of organizations in the NeighborWorks network is available here.

About the data

Network figures reflect home purchase data reported at closing by NeighborWorks network organizations for Federal Fiscal Years 2021 through 2025. Market comparisons are derived from 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act loan data for home purchase loans originated for single-family, owner-occupied residences. Because the network sample is substantially smaller than the national market, five years of network data are compared with one year of market data. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Area Median Income categories represent household income as a percent of the FFIEC MSA Median Family Income; network Area Median Income categories use the HUD income-level calculation. The national first-time homebuyer share is from the National Association of Realtors 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Occupation and metro affordability figures are from the National Housing Conference’s Paycheck to Paycheck analysis, published in October 2026. 

About NeighborWorks America

For nearly 50 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a congressionally chartered national nonprofit known as NeighborWorks® America, has strived to make every community safer and more prosperous. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 nonprofits in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and on Native lands. NeighborWorks offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools, and access to best-in-class training as the nation’s leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations build homes and apartments, expanding the supply of affordable housing in every community; provide financial counseling and coaching that increases self-sufficiency; encourage resident leadership; and collaborate with local stakeholders in the areas of health, economic development, employment, and education. In Fiscal Year 2025, for every dollar received from Congress, the NeighborWorks network and NeighborWorks America attracted an additional $74 of investment from other sources. For more information, visit www.neighborworks.org.