The June 2017 First Time Home Buyer Market Report released by the private mortgage insurance provider, Genworth Mortgage Insurance shows a steady increase in housing demand by first time home buyers in the first quarter of 2017.

Last year was the strongest period for the first time home buyer market in 11 years, according to Genworth’s First-Time Homebuyer Market Report. In 2016, there were two million first time home buyers — 15 percent more than in 2015.

They also contributed to 37 percent of all single-family home purchases, up from 34 percent in 2015, and the most purchases since 2005.

For the first quarter of 2017, 424,000 single-family homes were bought by first time home buyers — a year-over-year gain of 11 percent.

First time home buyers have led the housing recovery, contributing over 60 percent of the sales growth in the housing market over the past five years and 85 percent of the growth in the past two years. The resurgence of the first time home buyers market has contributed to very tight housing supplies and accelerating home prices, especially in the “low” end of the real estate market, where many first time home buyers are shopping.

Unlike repeat home buyers, first time home buyers do not bring another housing unit to the market at the same time they are seeking to buy. They represent a shift in housing demand from rental to owner occupancy. Therefore, rising first time home buyers in the housing market drain housing inventory and the supply of homes for sale much faster than a similar increase in repeat buyers.