The share of first-time homebuyers has dropped to a historic low of 24%, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). One year ago, the share was 32%.
At the same time, homebuyers’ ages hit all-time highs of 56 years overall in 2024, up from 49 last year. NAR noted this was divided between 38 years for first-time buyers (35 last year) and 61 years for repeat buyers (58 last year).
Furthermore, NAR noted the share of married couples increased to 62% of all buyers, with single female buyers seeing a slight rise to 20%; At the same time, the share of single males decreased to 8% and unmarried couples dropped to 6%. Among racial and ethnic demographics, 83% of recent home buyers identified their ethnicity as White while 7% identified as Black, 6% identified as Hispanic, 4% identified as Asian/Pacific Islander and 3% as some other ethnicity.
NAR determined the typical homebuyer’s median household income for 2023 rose to $108,800 from $107,000 in 2022 while first-time buyers had a median household income of $97,000, up from $95,900 the prior year and an increase of $26,000 in the last two years. Repeat buyers had a median household income of $114,300, up from $111,700 the previous year.
“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. “First-time buyers face high home prices, high mortgage interest rates and limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers. Meanwhile, current homeowners can more easily make housing trades using built-up housing equity for cash purchases or large down payments on dream homes.”
Make Real Estate Great Again, get rid of the NAR. The NAR is part of the Democrat party and America has rejected both.