Homebuyers Are Now Older Than Ever—and They’re Dipping Into Nest Eggs To Finance Their Purchases
It’s the golden age of real estate—with the majority of buyers now older than ever before.
The age of homebuyers has reached all-time highs, according to the National Association of Realtors® 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
The median homebuyer is now 56 years old, which is seven years older than last year.
“Part of the reason the median homebuyer ages are going up is that the share of first-time homebuyers—who tend to be younger—was at an all-time low this year, at 24%,” says Brandi Snowden, director of member and consumer survey research at NAR.
Prior to 2008, the share of first-time buyers had a historical norm of 40%.
“But due to lack of affordable housing, people might be putting off home purchases for a longer period of time,” says Snowden.
The median first-time buyer age was the highest ever recorded at 38, up from 35 last year. (In the 1980s, the typical first-time homebuyer was in their late 20s.)
Meanwhile, the typical repeat buyer age also climbed to 61 years old, up from 58 last year.
To come up with these findings, NAR surveyed nearly 5,390 buyers who purchased homes between July 2023 and June 2024.
Buyers are using their savings
Buyers are dipping into their nest eggs more and more—with 49% of all homebuyers using their savings to finance their home purchase.
“We typically see this especially with first-time buyers, since repeat buyers often have home equity they can tap into,” says Snowden.
In fact, the proportion of first-time buyers who financed their home purchases using savings surged to 69%.
That makes sense, as 24% of first-time buyers reported living with friends or family right before their home purchase, “which may have allowed them to save for a longer amount of time,” says Snowden.
Buyers who successfully close on a home are making a median $108,800 household income. That’s up from $107,000 last year. Those six figures are much needed, considering mortgage rates in the last year averaged 7.02% and reached a peak of 7.79% before finally easing.
“Lack of affordable housing has been a big issue,” says Snowden. “With rising home prices especially, buyers are needing a higher income to be able to get into homeownership.”
The median home price was $435,000 this year. Buyers are also putting down a median 18% down payment, compared with 15% a year earlier.
“In our survey, 12% of all buyers said saving for a down payment was the most difficult step of the homebuying process. The top three expenses that delayed saving for a down payment were high rent or current mortgage payments; credit card debt; and student loans,” says Snowden.
Married couples make up the bulk of buyers
The flagship NAR report takes a deep dive into buyer demographics, to examine exactly who’s purchasing property in this challenging market.
Married couples made up the bulk of buyers, at 62%—followed by single women, at 20%; single men, at 8%; and unmarried couples, at 6%.
The most popular home for buyers was a detached, single-family house in a subdivision. The typical home purchased was built in 1994 and had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and was 1,900 square feet.
About 8% of buyers purchased a townhouse or row house, while another 5% opted for a condo or duplex. (Across all types of homes, only about 15% were newly built.)
A rising majority of homeowners didn’t need additional space, since just 27% of recent buyers had a child under the age of 18 living with them—an all-time low.
“We’ve seen that number steadily dropping for several years, so it wasn’t too surprising,” says Snowden, noting the share is down from 30% last year and down from 58% in 1985.
“With rising home prices, people might be waiting longer to buy a home, and might be waiting longer to have children, too,” she adds.
Another factor is that the average homebuyer is now older, which means they are less likely to have children under 18 living at home, as well.
Married couples made up the bulk of buyers, at 62%.
Hot properties
Multigenerational living remains popular, with an all-time high of 17% of all buyers purchasing a home that will house different generations.
With escalating housing costs, “this is a way for multiple incomes to afford housing,” says Snowden.
The top reasons for purchasing a multigenerational home are cost savings, at 36%; taking care of aging parents, at 25%; children over the age of 18 moving back home, at 21%; and children over the age of 18 who never left home, at 20%.
Furry family members were also a factor in homebuying. About 16% of buyers said their pets influenced their decisions. They wanted to make sure their homes were conveniently located near the vet and had appropriate outdoor space for their animals.
First-time homebuyers have shrunk to a low
First-time homebuyers in the last year shrunk to a low of just 24% of all buyers, down from 32% the previous year. That’s the lowest it’s ever been since NAR began collecting the data in 1981.
First-time homebuyers tend to be older millennials with a median age of 38—the highest ever recorded. Half are married (50%), and they have a median household income of about $97,000. And they bought homes of about 1,500 square feet.
First-time buyers put down a median 9% down payment, up from 8% the previous year. This is the highest down payment for first-time buyers since 1997.
One-fourth of first-time buyers funded their down payment with a gift or loan from a relative or friend.
Location, location, location
Where do buyers want to be? Almost half—45%—chose the suburbs, followed by small towns, at 23%.
Purchasing in an urban area or central city is at the highest share since 2014, at 16%.
Around 14% of buyers chose rural locations, and just 3% opted for resort and recreation areas.
And buyers aren’t going far. They only moved a median distance of 20 miles from their old home to their new one. (This is down from the peak seen in the 2022 report, during the pandemic, of 50 miles.)
Most important to them was the quality of the neighborhood. That was followed by convenience to friends and family, and overall affordability.
Convenience to their job has declined incrementally and is now at 34%, down from 38% last year and down from 52% in 2014.
Once buyers move in, most plan to stay put. They expect to stay a median of 15 years in their newly purchased houses, with 25% saying they’ll never leave.
Sellers are also older than ever
Who’s putting all these properties on the market?
The typical age of home sellers was 63 this year, which was the highest seen in the report’s history.
Their median household income was $112,500, up from $111,100 last year.
They tended to have lived in their homes for 10 years. Although they had a variety of reasons for selling, the top ones were that they wanted to be closer to family and friends; their current home was too small or too large; or their neighborhood was becoming less desirable.