The National Association of REALTORS reports that 50% of all homes sales for the month of March were tied to first-time home buyers.  Many of these sales were for distressed and foreclosed properties. 

All-time low interest rates and federal tax credits are helping build this trend.  First-time home buyers are helping clear some of the oversupplied inventory and restore the economies of states that have been hit hard by foreclosures such as Florida and California.