First-time buyers look for low prices, low mortgage rates

Although sales in the city are down, brokers say many first-time homebuyers are taking advantage of reduced apartment prices. The first-time buyers are looking for homes priced under $1 million, and especially for units under $500,000, and in neighborhoods like East Harlem and downtown Brooklyn, brokers said. One buyer looking at the Observatory Place, a new condominium at 2021 First Avenue at 104th Street, had been priced out of his Manhattan rental apartment years ago, and was renting a home in Queens, but decided to buy because mortgage rates have recently fallen. “We are looking while the mortgage rates are good,” the buyer said.