NAR’s 2025 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report

Housing affordability continues to hamper would-be home buyers, according to a report from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). It found the demographic profile of homeownership is shifting, with first-time owners comprising only 24% of the buyers, down from 2023 when that cohort was 32%.

In its 2024 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers, NAR looked at homeownership trends, the mortgage market, and affordability by race, the search process, and home buyer demographics.

Despite elevated mortgage rates and affordability challenges, homeownership rates rose from a decade ago, reaching 65.2% compared to 63.5%. The figure for 2013 translates to around 11.8 million more homeowners than in 2013. Homeownership levels have improved across all racial and ethnic groups, although some groups lag behind.

“The U.S. housing market is split into two groups: first-time buyers struggling to enter the market and current homeowners buying with cash,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research. Among challenges she noted first-time buyers encounter are “high home prices, high mortgage interest rates, and limited inventory.”

Notably, a record high 26% of buyers paid cash for their homes, and a record 17% of purchasers bought a multigenerational home.

The 2024 profile report also showed:

• Home buyers’ overall age of 56 years was an all-time high, up from 49 the previous year.
• For first-time buyers, the overall age was 38, three years older than the previous year.
• The typical home buyer’s median household income for 2023 rose to $108,800, which compares to $107,000 in 2022.
• The share of married couples increased to 62% of all buyers, with single female buyers rising slightly to 20%.
• Of recent buyers, 83% identified their ethnicity as white or Caucasian.
• 73% of recent buyers did not have a child under the age of 18 in their home (the highest ever).
• The median down payment was 18% overall (23% for repeat purchasers and only 9% for first-time buyers).
• 86% of all buyers used a real estate agent; 90% of sellers used a real estate agent.
• Among sellers, the typical age was 63, the oldest ever records.
• The vast proportion of sellers (69%) were married couples.

REALTORS® cite various factors affecting rates of homeownership when comparing racial and ethnic groups.

“The decision to purchase a home is closely linked to personal financial circumstances, local housing market conditions, and broader economic trends,” NAR noted in its snapshot of the report. Among the factors the trade group listed were:

• Demographic trends (age distribution shapes trends)
• Affordability (a particular challenge for first-time buyers)
• Access to credit (not equal across racial and ethnic groups)
• Homeowners’ insurance cost (increasingly important in the cost of owning a home)

The report highlights who is entering the U.S. housing market and examines trends among racial groups in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

NAR has published its Profile report annually since 1981. The 2024 report was based on a 127-question survey mailed to 167,750 recent home buyers.