Median Age of First-Time Home Buyers Hits Record High

Four years ago, the median age of people buying their first home in the United States was 33 years old. Now, as of June 20, 2025, by June 2025, the National Association of Home Operations (NAR) conducted a study, the age of 40 has increased sharply to 40 years.

NAR released its annual report of home buyers and sellers on Tuesday, painting a picture of a housing market dominated by older buyers who can afford larger down payments and pay cash for homes.

Meanwhile, young Americans struggle to become homeowners with rising home prices and high mortgage rates. The median price of a home in the U.S. hit $415,200 in September, up 50% since 2019, per Bloomberg. Mortgage rates are double at the time of writing for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, reaching 6.17% in 2021, compared to 2.9% in the first half of 2021.

“The implications for the housing market are staggering,” Jessica Lautz, Nar’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “Today’s first-time buyers are building less housing wealth and will likely move less throughout their lives as a result.”

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Almost a third (32%) of first-time home buyers were aged 25 to 34, with one in four (25%) aged 35 to 44. Nar noted that in the 1980s, the typical first-time buyer was in their late 20s.

The tendency to delay home ownership in life has long-term financial implications. When people delay buying a home, they miss out on the money they have earned as the home’s value increases. Shannon McGahn, NAR Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer, said Americans may have “about $150,000 in equity” or $150,000 in financial value that can be built by age 40 instead of 40 or $150,000 in financial value.

Nar reported that first-time buyers represented just 21% of the U.S. housing market in June 2024 through June 2025, the lowest percentage since Nar began collecting the data in 1981.

Related: There’s one week a year when home sellers can get $27,000 more than usual

First-time home buyers have shown that high rents and major student loan debt are putting them off buying a home. The average rent for an apartment in the US is 908 square feet on average, and the average student loan debt in the US is $39,375

NAR sent out a 120-question survey in July to 173,250 recent homebuyers who purchased a home between July 2024 and June 2025. The sample was randomly selected from geographically representative sales representatives of sales in the United States.

Four years ago, the median age of people buying their first home in the United States was 33 years old. Now, as of June 20, 2025, by June 2025, the National Association of Home Operations (NAR) conducted a study, the age of 40 has increased sharply to 40 years.

NAR released its annual report of home buyers and sellers on Tuesday, painting a picture of a housing market dominated by older buyers who can afford larger down payments and pay cash for homes.