KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers Kansas City, Missouri. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
—
Home ownership is a dream for many people, but it's taking longer to get there.
The average age of a first-time home buyer is 40 years old — an all-time high, according to the National Association of Realtors. The number of first time home buyers is at a record low of 21%.
Shay Moore, a popular voice on radio station, Power 105.1 FM, is trying to get into the housing market.
"I've lived in six different states and worked at 11 radio stations, so up until this point, I never even thought about purchasing a home," Moore said.
Now that she's been in Kansas City, Missouri, for the past 10 years, she's ready to get the keys to her first home.
"It's what folks call the American Dream," Moore said. "Who doesn't want to be a part of that?"
As a renter, she's found out how expensive it is to find a safe apartment with updated amenities.
"When I first got here, I had a three-bedroom townhome in Lee’s Summit and it was affordable, she said. "Not anymore. Things have gotten really out of control."
For the past year, she's been looking for the right time to buy a home.
"One of my concerns was the interest rates at one point and the price point," she said. 'What I found in Kansas City is you can still get an affordable home."
Tenesia Brown, CEO of Keys Realty Group, has been looking for people like Moore for the past seven years.
Brown's goal is to help 1,000 Black people become first-time buyers.
"Why not?," she said. "We have a big gap in the number of people who become homeowners and it's just because we have lack of education and don’t know where we can find the resources."
She noticed the most demand from potential homebuyers during the pandemic when interest rates were low.
Earlier this year, when Brown met KSHB 41 Reporter Alyssa Jackson, she had grown the list of homebuyers helped to 880.
In less than a year, she's up to 887 homebuyers.
Her interactions with a new client always include realistic advice, along with evaluating what they need to do to reach their home ownership goals.
"You have to start where you can afford," Brown said. "You can't be house rich and pocket poor."
As Brown nears the end of the year just 103 clients away from her goal, she believes 2026 will be the year she can make it happen.
"We're gonna get there," she said. "We're not stopping."
—
