How do I identify first-time buyers in the American Housing Survey (AHS) public use file (PUF)?

Use the variable FRSTHO. There are three things you have to be careful about:

1. The concept applies to only owner-occupied units. Thus, you must restrict yourself to records where STATUS = 1 and TENURE = 1.
2. The name of the variable is misleading. FRSTHO contains the answer to the question, "Did you ever own a home before? Thus, a "yes" answer indicates a repeat buyer, and a "no" answer indicates a first time buyer.
3. The FRSTHO question is not asked if the respondent indicates that the household used the sale of a previous home as a source of down payment. In this case, FRSTHO = B. So, to identify a first-time buyer, you need to make sure FRSTHO = 2. Checking to see if FRSTHO is not 1 is not sufficient, since blanks would pass this test. To identify a repeat buyer, the best way is to make sure FRSTHO does not equal 2.