Guess How Old the First-Time Homebuyer is Today
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Bill Primavera
It is a different story today to become a homeowner from former generations, both in terms of age and income. The typical homebuyer today is older than ever, as well as wealthier, new data shows.
The average age of homebuyers in 2024 was 56, a record high, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), highlighting the impact of soaring housing prices and elevated mortgage rates. That’s up from 49 years old last year, the trade group found.
First-time buyers also tend to be older. The median first-time buyer this year was 38 years old, up from 35 in 2023. Roughly a quarter of those getting into homeownership were first-time buyers, down from 32 percent last year and the lowest share since NAR started tracking those numbers in 1981.
I was very lucky to have acquired my first home, in historic Brooklyn Heights, at the tender age of 28 – and with absolutely no money in the bank. My wife and I experienced a fairy tale-like purchase of that first home. In fact, we weren’t even looking to buy a home. Instead, we were looking to find a retail rental space where we could sell antique furniture and accessories that we had been collecting with the purpose of selling them off at a profit.
But fate intervened when we happened to mention to an antiques dealer that we were looking for an opportunity to open an antiques shop.
“Why don’t you just buy mine?” he asked, and “at the same time why not buy the two-family house it occupies?”
Besides that – and this is where a fairy godmother must have been at work – the owner didn’t ask for any money for the inventory until an item was sold. I don’t know that I’ve ever again been so fortunate in a business transaction.
Things are not so easy today for first-time buyers. Not only do they face high prices and interest rates, but limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers, according to NAR.
A record share of U.S. homes is valued at $1 million or more, with tight supply driving prices to record highs across the nation, a recent Redfin report shows. (Redfin is a company offering a variety of services in real estate transactions.) In the largest U.S. cities, even people with relatively high incomes struggle to afford homeownership.
Through September, the price of single-family homes rose 3.4 percent from a year ago, according to CoreLogic, which assembles such records. The median sale price in September was roughly $427,500, according to Redfin.
While it may be more difficult today to achieve that first-time homebuyer status, it will always be the primary financial goal of families to own their own home. After all, for most families, it’s the single most important investment of their lives – and understandably so.
A roof over one’s head is a primary need, but what it protects offers many pleasures beyond need.
Bill Primavera is a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest-running public relations agency in Westchester (www.PrimaveraPR.com). To engage the services of The Home Guru and his team to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
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