The flow of new buyers into homeownership is vital for the overall health of the housing market. First-time buyers propel the blood circulation in the housing market by creating the necessary liquidity at the lower end of the market. In this paper we examine the economics of first-time buyers in the Dutch market over the period 1985 to 2003, using a unique panel data set of 70.000 households. Our analysis composes of three parts. After describing the characteristics of Dutch first-time buyers over time we start our analysis with an examination of affordability of home-ownership for first-time buyers for the years 1985, 1995 and 2003. By incorporating the time variant development of effective financing costs and disposable income we are able to compare affordability of home-ownership along time. Next we focus our research on accessibility. By screening the demand and supply numbers in the market, we compare the accessibility of the different regions in the market. In this section we also focus on the turnover rates of different price- and quality segments in the market in order properly assess the available accessibility. In the final portion of our study we utilize unique household panel data in order to quantify the probability of first-time buyers actually entering the market of homeowners. Regression analysis will help us to identify the key variables that determine the likelihood of homeownership and test trends over time.