The real estate market has strengthened in 2014;
but, it is not as strong as anticipated. 
One key reason:  first-time home buyers. 

Economists, real estate agents and many home
builders expected first-time and entry-level buyers to begin returning to the
market this year, jumpstarting the sputtering housing recovery. So far, that
hasn’t happened.

Less buying at the market’s lower end by first-time
buyers has contributed to limiting sales of existing homes so far this year to
a pace of roughly 88% of their 10-year average. It’s also a factor in stunting
sales of newly built homes to a pace of roughly 60% of their annual average
since 2000.

Some economists now predict that tight lending
standards, high prices and the sluggish economic recovery will keep
first-timers from returning in full force for several years. That likely means
a slower pace for the housing recovery, already a drag on the broader economy
in the past year.

“We likely have hit the bottom in the past six
months or so regarding the lack of participation of first-time buyers,”
said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
“It may take three years to return to normal first-time-buyer
participation.”  Source, in part,
The Wall Street Journal.