11 housing markets with plenty of first time home buyer inventory

First time home buyers have a particularly hard time finding affordable inventory, but there are plenty of starter homes to go around in a handful of metro areas in the United States, according to Trulia.

Well over one-third of home purchasers nationwide are first-time buyers and the consumer segment represents a significant source of business for mortgage lenders, particularly given the purchase-driven market that has emerged in 2017. However, entry-level homes represent less than 26% of overall listings, creating housing market strain for would-be buyers, real estate professionals and mortgage lenders.

But in some areas, the starter-home share of overall property listings is meeting demand, according to what Trulia calls its "Market Mismatch Score."

The Mismatch Score compares the difference between the percent of starter home listings on its website to the demand from home shoppers, as measured by the percent of search traffic on those listings.

Here's a look at the 11 housing markets where the share of entry-level homes for sale is greater than the share of first time home buyer shoppers.

While these markets are bucking the national trend, this excess inventory may not be around for long. The Mismatch Scores in each market were lower in 2017 than in 2016 for all these markets, reflecting a narrowing gap between supply and demand.

The home listing and buyer demand data is from Trulia, based on the second quarter of 2017. The home sales data is for the first half of 2017, and is provided by Black Knight.

Starter home listings: 29%
First time home buyer searches: 28.9%
2Q17 Mismatch Score: 0.1
2Q16 Mismatch Score: 7
Starter home sales: 3,033

Starter home listings: 20.2%
First time home buyer searches: 19.9%
2Q17 Mismatch Score: 0.3
2Q16 Mismatch Score: 4.4
Starter home sales: 3,805