Tom Lovegrove, a Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia entrepreneur, and resident, is CEO of several businesses, including construction. In addition to serving as CEO of Baywatch Development Corporation, a real estate and construction company, Tom Lovegrove is also a member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a professional organization that advocates for its members protecting the American dream of owning a home.
In April 2021, the NAHB announced that home-buying interest increased for first-time homebuyers. The announcement came as a part of celebrating New Homes Month, which happened in April as well.
According to an NAHB release, first-time homebuyers account for 43 percent of the new home market in 2021. This figure was up from 32 percent in 2018. These figures were drawn from the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), which reported that 27 percent of builders stated the new home buyers comprised 20 percent of their home sales.
One of the major issues for first-time homebuyers is that while there is interest in purchasing, the cost is a challenge for many people. One of the factors that make houses more expensive is the cost of building materials. For example, an increase in lumber prices caused housing prices to increase by $24,000 since April 2020.
