First-time homebuyers in the United States are older than ever.
Not only has the average age of a first-time U.S. homebuyer jumped to a record 38 years old, just a third of Americans own a home by the time they reach 30, which is down from 47% in 1984, according to a new study.
Other “later life milestones” identified as reshaping home ownership by the John Burns Research and Consulting study released Friday include fewer 30-year-olds living independently (70% compared to 83% in 1984) or having been married (48% compared to 78% in 1984).
The study showed the age of the country’s typical first-time homebuyer was five years younger in 2020, just 33 years old, and averaged 31 years old between 1993 and 2018, Realtor.com reported Tuesday.
“Shifting cultural norms, limited housing options, and the growing cost of homeownership mean that fewer would-be first-time homebuyers are opting to venture into homeownership,” Hannah Jones, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst, said.
Jones said the surge in home prices over the past few years “appear to have played in accelerating the trend,” citing what she labeled a sharp increase in the age of the median first-time buyer from 2020 to 2024.
“The run-up in home prices during the [COVID-19] pandemic and climbing mortgage rates in the years following only built on the challenges presented by the decade-plus housing supply gap,” she said.
A gap in the housing supply estimated at nearly 4 million homes nationwide by Realtor.com, is also to blame, Jones said.
“Limited housing options have kept upward pressure on prices, pushing many households to continue renting instead of taking on homeownership,” she said. “The resulting cultural shift away from homeownership has also pushed the median age of first-time buyers higher.”
The new study noted that delayed homeownership makes for increased rental demand and that 72% of renters in the United States in 2024 were age 30 or older, an all-time high. In 2020, that age group accounted for less than 70% of renters.
First-time homebuyers made up just 24% of the market share last year, according to the National Association of Realtors “2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.” Not only is the share down from 32% in 2023, it’s the lowest since the association began collecting the data in 1981.
The annual profile, published last November, also found that the age of first-time home buyers reached an all-time high of 38 in 2024, as well as that the age of the nation’s median home buyer hit 56, up from 49 the previous year.