The median age of a first-time homebuyer in America just hit 40 years old
That’s the oldest point on record and 10 years higher than it was as recently as 2010.
It’s the “my parents at 29 vs. me at 29” meme in a chart about buying property, basically.
New data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) provided some particularly bleak reading yesterday for younger people looking to get a foot on a rung of the increasingly elusive property ladder, with the median age of a first-time homebuyer in the US rising to a record high of 40 years old. Meanwhile, the share of homes being bought by first-timers sank to a record low of 21%.
Homes, steep homes
In the NAR release, Jessica Lautz, the association’s deputy chief economist and research VP, said the historic rock-bottom share “underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory.” Another NAR representative noted the stunting economic effects that being locked out of the housing market can have later in life.
But just how far delayed has a key element of the American dream become for younger US citizens looking to escape “generation rent”? And just how fast has the shift happened?
In the mid-1980s, the median age of a first-time homebuyer in the US was 29 years old. As recently as 2010, even, the figure sat at 30, as younger Americans capitalized on almost historically low mortgage rates to make their first property purchases.
Elevated interest rates coupled with higher home prices more broadly, as well as toppy down payments for first-time buyers — which now match the highest level on NAR’s records since 1989 — have all seen prospective buyers forced to wait longer than ever to finally get into the market.
Meanwhile, as Lautz told Bloomberg, wealthier (often older) Americans are able to stump up for those higher down payments on second or third properties, or even pay in full, leading to a joint-record 26% share of all-cash buyers.
