First-time homebuyers are contributing to an increase in demand for smaller and less expensive new homes, according to research from economists at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Forty-one percent of the 8.4 million households who bought a home between 2007 and 2009 consisted of first-time buyers, according to the American Housing Survey, conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau in 2009.

"Builders are increasingly gearing their homes to the needs of first-time buyers, and we expect the trend to continue in the period ahead as the economy begins generating more jobs and more people in their 20s form households," said Bob Jones, chairman of NAHB and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "New homes are a better match for the needs of the population in general. Compared to what is typically available in the existing housing stock, they are more energy-efficient, easier to maintain and have designs better suited to today’s lifestyles."

Although new housing is significantly more expensive than the existing housing stock, 13 percent of first-time buyers between 2007 and 2009 purchased new homes, according to a statement. By comparison, 17 percent of all the homes sold during that period were new. The average market value of a new home purchased was more than $315,000, compared to more than $238,000 for existing homes.

First-time buyers bought homes averaging 1,874 square feet, significantly below the 2,549-square-foot home purchased on average by those trading up, according to a statement. Forty-six percent of first-timers bought homes smaller than 1,500 square feet.